Special & stricter training for policemen to attain world-class professionalism

(Kuala Lumpur, Sunday): Yesterday, Dato’ Seri Abdullah said the Government would like to beef up the police force to cope with the increasing workload. He pointed out that there were 74,000 police personnel of all ranks in the country and that the ratio was one police to 3,000 people. In some countries the ratio is one policeman to 500 people. Actually, the number in direct contact with the people may not even be 30,000. The ratio may be more like 1 in 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 or more.

In March this year, the Deputy Home Minister Datuk Zainal Abidin told the House that the Government intended to recruit 12,000 people. If the figure is 24,000, then it is encouraging. We only hope that the recruitment reflects the racial composition of the country unlike the virtual mono-ethnic force at present.

In Parliament, we have proposed that the Government raise the level of professionalism of the Malaysian police to world class, from police stations to all grades of the personnel. If this can be achieved, the people within and outside this country will salute our policemen.

There have always been dedicated policemen. Many are clean, efficient and trustworthy. But, just like other fields including medicine, there are black sheep. Dato’ Seri Abdullah has admitted that the few who have indulged in corruption and misuse of power have tarnished the image.

We continue to highlight the complaints of the people over police irregularities. We hope that the media do not black out such statements.The acute shortage of police personnel causes concern. But, the lackadaisical service of some of them hurts the people. Those who fuddle over their duty make the public unhappy. Leaving aside the responsible policemen, we find that the black sheep exploit illegal immigrants, motorcyclists, motorists, and operators of video centres, gambling joints and red-light districts.