With questions over RM1.3m in missing police assets, IGP pleads for time
(MMO) – As the public wonders how guns are being smuggled across the border and onto our streets, the Auditor-General’s Report 2012 released yesterday dropped a bombshell as it revealed the police lost 44 firearms between 2010 and 2012.
The question is, have the negligent officers been identified, and what is being done to recover these firearms?
The types of arms are not specified, but the report states they are among several police assets that have gone missing.
The audit found that overall, asset management at the police headquarters in Bukit Aman and at three police contingents (IPK) is unsatisfactory.
The police also lost 29 vehicles in the same period.
Apart from that, 156 handcuffs were reported to have gone missing, along with 26 walkie-talkies, a cellphone, six cameras, four computers, 22 radios, and 21 items filed under “others”.
The missing assets amount to RM1.33 million, with Selangor recording the highest number of missing items, followed by Penang and Johor.
DAP’s Seputeh MP Teresa Kok alleged that the police might know where criminals are getting firearms, citing the auditor-general’s report.
Directing her criticism at Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, Kok asked him to take a good look at the apparent weaknesses in the police force instead of pushing for the Prevention of Crime (Amendment and Extension) Bill through Parliament.
Kok, who is also the DAP crime action taskforce chairman, insisted on finding out how the police lost the 44 firearms, adding that they must also reveal what types of arms had gone missing.
“These negligent cops should be sacked and prosecuted if the missing guns are used by criminals to commit crimes,” she said.
Kok said 44 was a huge number and she wanted to know if the policemen responsible had been identified.
Khalid requested some time to study the report before he could comment.
“Allow us to take a look at the report first, we will respond soon,” he told The Malay Mail.
Also mentioned in the report are the late detection of these losses and how officers did not bother to report the missing items to their heads of departments immediately.
This led to a delay in reporting the missing property.
In general, the auditor-general’s findings reveal an overall delay in the handling of the police’s missing properties.
In an earlier response to the auditor-general, which is published in the report, the police say they would form a system to enable the police headquarters in Bukit Aman to be alerted once a report has been filed regarding a missing property at each police contingent/formation.
The system will be set up by the information technology department and the logistics department, and is aimed at detecting missing items early.
The police say there is a conflict in the statistics on the number of assets missing as there is no secretariat assigned to manage the matter.
The report also states that only two cases out of 95 in 2012 were settled after some of the missing items were recovered.
The auditor-general says regular procedural checks by the police are needed to prevent the late detection of missing assets.
He also suggests that the cause of these losses be identified, be it theft or negligence, and those involved should face disciplinary action to prevent items going missing in the future.
