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Press Statement

by Lim Guan Eng

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(Melaka, Thursday): Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hasan should publicly apologise for failing to stop rampant crime in Johor. Following the brutal robbery, assault of a young man and rape of his girlfriend in Taman Tampoi Indah, Johor Baru 2 days ago, another rape-cum-robbery is reported in Johor Baru. A 55-year-old contractor and his 35-year-old female friend had stopped at a petrol station was robbed and the woman gang-raped along the Pasir Gudang highway last week. Snatch thefts are as common now as before. 

Women in Johor are living in a state of fear from snatch thefts, robbery and rape. Unfortunately, the police continues to be in a state of denial by blissfully ignoring the alarming crime situation that is deteriorating daily, boasting instead that effective crime prevention has caused a 8% decline in crime rate for the first quarter of the year. These heartless criminals have proven the extent of lawlessness in the state as well as helplessness of the police force in fighting crime. 

On 2 June 2007, the IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan announced that Johor’s crime rate has dropped by nearly eight per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year. A total of 9,175 cases were reported between January and April this year — 788 cases fewer than the total number reported during the same period last year. 

Musa said the crime rate for the Johor Baru South district had dropped by nearly 13 per cent whilst Johor Baru North, too, recorded an improvement, with a decline of 7.6 per cent in the number of cases. The two district police headquarters are in the IDR. Only 10 days after Musa’s announcement, these figures of falling crime rate in Johor and Johor Baru are proven as misleading that do not reflect the actual situation the ground when such violent crimes continue to occur with such ease and frequency in Johor Baru.  

The assault, robbery and rape has struck fear into the hearts of local residents in Johor as well as investors. What is worse is the complete indifference and irresponsibility of police officers who failed to act when the brother of the male victim sought help from a passing patrol car, who just drove off without any effort to help or save the victims. Such an irresponsible attitude is both unforgivable and unacceptable. DAP demands that the police personnel in the patrol car be immediately sacked for gross dereliction of duty. 

Such complaints of slow response by the police are nothing new. At midnight last night, I had received a complaint from Taman Merdeka in Melaka that the police had not come to pick up a thief caught by the public after more than half-an hour. When I called the police station in Melaka Tengah I had to wait nearly five minutes for the officer to come to the telephone to take my complaint even though I identified myself. A police patrol was immediately dispatched to the scene to pick up the thief. 

If even I had to wait for nearly 5 minutes before the police officer came to the phone, one can imagine how frustrated the public feels when there is no sense of urgency from the police. The IGP should stop misleading the public that crime prevention is effective in checking criminal activities but face reality that they have failed to perform.  

Only by admitting their weaknesses, then only can a new plan not only to fight crime but also root out police officers who are either lazy, irresponsible in their duties or corrupt. As a first step, DAP urges the government to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) as suggested by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Police. 

The IPCMC is required to check police abuses and improve police integrity and performance so that the people in Johor and Malaysia can live, study, work and play in a safe and secure neighbourhood free from crime. The people have a basic right to a crime free environment as taxes have been paid to form an effective police force. Failure to provide a safe and secure neighbourhood is a failure of governance that deserves severe punishment by all Malaysians in the next general elections.