Media statement by Teo Nie Ching in Serdang on Friday, 7^th October 2011:

Police priorities misplaced, reform needed

I express regret and vent my anger towards the police force for gross abuse of public funds in their harsh treatment of the peaceful demonstrators in the Bersih 2.0 rally.

Malaysians from all strata of society gathered together to demand for clean and fair elections but they were subjected to brutal treatment by the police and FRU who not only fired a total of 262 teargas canisters at them but also arrested 1,509 protestors, committing gross injustice in the process.

"Until today, there has been no reports of damage to public facilities or private property by the demonstrators, therefore there was absolutely no need for the police to use teargas and water cannons against ordinary citizens, or treat them as if they were terrorists. The police even fired into the hospital compound!"

Although the police repeatedly announced a decline in crime rates, the incidence of crime and public safety are still major areas of concern for many people.

For the past 9 years from 2001 till 2010, the number of police personnel increased from 82,135 to 106,079 -- a growth rate of 29% which is much higher than our population growth of 22%.

With the increase in police personnel to 106,079 in 2010, the police to population ratio is 1:270 which is quite close to the Interpol-recommended ratio of 1:250 and higher than certain developed nations such as Singapore (1:396), Australia (1:342) and United Kingdom (1:380).

However, the people of Malaysia somehow still do not feel safer in their own country than the people of Singapore, Australia and United Kingdom!

The fault does not lie with the number of personnel in the force but rather, the force has to recognise that the right to peaceful assembly is a fundamental human right. Had the police agreed to cooperate with the organisers of the Bersih 2.0 rally, and dispatched sufficient officers to maintain order, millions of ringgit would not have been wasted by the police in teargassing the demonstrators.

As for the 11,000 police personnel allegedly deployed on 9 July to crack down on the demonstrators, it was highly unnecessary, if the police had cooperated with the rally organizers, RM2.01 million of taxpayers' money would not have been wasted.

* Teo Nie Ching, DAP Assistant National Publicity Secretary & MP for Serdang