Climbing crime rates = Government's failure

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Media Statement
by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew
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(Petaling Jaya, Monday) : The new wave of gang rape and violence that have shaken up the entire Johor Bahru last week has once again puts the PDRM under microscope.

Before I make my comments, pls read and understand how PDRM deploys its personnels…

Admininstrative Department - 33,036

Logistics Department - 10,587

Crime Investigation Department- 6,661

Commercial Crime Department - 690

Internal Security / Public Order Department- 33,214

Narcotics Department - 2,713

Special Branch- 6,026

Public Service - 7,705

Total: 100,632

You see, PDRM only deploy 6,661 men and women out of 100,632 they have to fight crimes. That's clearly not enough and that's why we have been openly and repeatedly calling for redeployment of the police force. We have also repeatedly raised the issue of the need for a pay rise for the police force to raise their fighting spirit. We were satisfied with the recent pay rise for the men and women in blues.

More than a year ago (shortly after the Canny Ong's murder), I have personally called for the reduction of staff for the Special Branch, FRU and also cut down the number of outriders for VIPs in order to despatch more men and women in blues to the streets to protect our lives. But sad to say that nothing is being done in that direction.

And pls take a look at the crime rates now (an extract from a recent Malaysiakini report).

Increase in crime rate

"According to the official crime index released in the PDRM website, the country had 198,622 crime incidents in 2006 compared with 157, 459 in 2005, which is a 12 percent hike. In the first two months of 2007, the police recorded 35, 076 crime cases. The biggest crime in all the years is theft including property theft, petty theft, house break-ins and vehicle theft. Equally disturbing was that the crime-solving rate had slid during the same period.

In 2005, the police managed to solve 76,284 cases, which amounted to 48.9 percent while only 73,281 or 36.8 percent of the cases were solved in 2006.

In January and February this year, 13,386 or 38.1 percent of the cases have been solved.

In the past when DAP raised this issue in Parliament, the government had claimed that the national crime-solving rate was always above the international accepted level of 40 percent.

However, Chow (Penang DAP chief) said Abdullah owed the public an explanation on why there was a decrease in the crime-solving rate for 2006, which was below the international mark.

"Have the police slowed down and become inefficient in solving crime?" he asked.

Primary concern

The statistics also revealed that Selangor is the most crime-prone state with 47,499 reported cases in 2005, 54,270 in 2006 and 6,771 in January and February this year.

Other leading crime-prone states are Johor with 24,945 cases in 2005, 28,469 in 2006 and 3,524 in last January and February, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur with 20,689, 25,236 and 4,547 cases; and Penang with 12,407, 16,229 and 3,822 cases respectively."

The figures are very alarming. We hope the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who also hold s the position of the Internal Security Minister (not to mention the Minister of Finance he's holding) to do some thing quickly about the deployment of police to stop the crime rates from climbing to another notch.

Yes, we need more police to protect the ordinary people in the streets. Too many of them are now serving the Special Branch, FRU or working as outriders for the VIPs and that's not healthy.

The BN Government is at fault if they continue to ignore the need of better protection and a crime-free society. What is so difficult to direct the PDRM to re-deploy its staff, Mr Prime Minister?

(18/6/2007)