PDRM system lists a dead man as ‘wanted’

By admin-s On May 2, 2014

(The Ant Daily) – Dead men are still listed as “wanted” in its supposedly hi-tech KomPol system.

Do you know the Hollywood movie R.I.P.D (Rest in Peace Department)? It tells the story of an agency of deceased police officers who go after renegade ghosts.

Soon, the Polis di-Raja Malaysia (PDRM) may be on its way to rival that agency because dead men are still listed as “wanted” in its supposedly hi-tech KomPol system. The only difference is that living cops are going after dead criminals.

KomPol is an internal database that holds the details of criminals and those on the police wanted list. But it seems those running the system did not bother to update it.

This was among the flaws in the system highlighted by Malaysian Crime Watch task force (MyWatch ) chairman R Sri Sanjeevan.

“The complaints we received are about suspects who were arrested and charged in courts but their names remained in the system under the ‘wanted’ list.

“This has caused countless trouble to the men, who were often picked up at roadblocks everywhere. People travelling with them also get held up for many hours. Sometimes the ‘wanted’ end up behind bars for a day, until the police rectify the matter with the relevant investigating officers or police stations,” he said.

Such weaknesses in a force harping on transparency and efficiency are appalling. There should be no excuse for such a simple matter to be overlooked because this involves a person’s reputation and life.

Imagine a man who had spent a few days or months behind bars, and just when he is about to turn over a new leaf after his release, he gets hauled up by cops for a crime he had been punished for.

Why? All because the poorly updated system says that the person is wanted, when and where be damned.