{"id":50935,"date":"2025-07-31T16:11:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T08:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/?p=50935"},"modified":"2025-07-31T16:11:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T08:11:43","slug":"kasthuri-urges-swift-bodycam-implementation-under-13mp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/kasthuri-urges-swift-bodycam-implementation-under-13mp\/","title":{"rendered":"Kasthuri Urges Swift Bodycam Implementation Under 13MP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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13<\/b><\/span>th<\/sup><\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>Malaysia Plan \u2014<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>To uphold transparency, accountability and integrity, the<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>police,road transport department,<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>immigration and customs<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>must<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>all<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>be equipped with<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>body cams<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>with no delay<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>and<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>with that<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>a reform of the process and procedure<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>to minimise miscarriages in the criminal justice system.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the recent judgement on model<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Ivana Smit\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>death in 2017, judge<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Roz Mawar<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Rozain<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>described the police\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>handling of the case a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201clitany of failures\u201d taking into account<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the incompetence<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and disregard<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>proper procedure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In March<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>this year,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>at a roadblock,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>2 police<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>officers<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in Penang<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>have been<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>accused<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and charged<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>extorting an aide to an EXCO member<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>by instilling fear in her and forcing her to withdraw money from a near ATM.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In June, a police officer in Ampang<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>made sexually suggestive remarks to a woman, proposing that they check in into a hotel. The conversation was captured on video and went viral on social media. The police officer has been taken<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>off duty and is being investigated by<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Bukit Aman’s Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On another note,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>many<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>cases of Immigration officers on duty in airports have been found to be<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>literally<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>sleeping on the job \u2013 one found<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>with 12 foreign pasports in his pants<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in February this year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Six<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>days ago, an Immigration officer<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>was caught with RM8,391 and documents indicating<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>he was part of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201ccounter-setting\u201d between officers and syndicates<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>allowing foreigners without<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>valid documents to enter the country.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reports of customs officers<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>raking in RM200,000 per month<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>from vape smugglers<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>at the KLIA<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Free Commercial Zone<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>had been<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>exposed through<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a special operation code-named<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Ops<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Airways<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>which wad conducted by MACC<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>earlier this year which yielded<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>seized items amounting to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>RM17.9 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>all is not lost. In February this year,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>some officers at checkpoints have started to use bodycams according to news<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>reports.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The Customs Department<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>carried out a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>pilot project with officers<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>since<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>April<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>2023<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>with 60 officers equipped with body cameras.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>While it is insufficient, it is still better than none.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Immigration officers would be getting 600 units of body<\/a>cams<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>7,648<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>body cams were distributed<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in stages to police personnel<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>out of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>10,000.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>According to former IGP<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Tan Sri<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Razarudin<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Husain,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the police had submitted a proposal for a procurement of 10,000 more body cameras under the 13<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Malaysia Plan.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It is most important for all officers, especially those on field<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>duty<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to be equipped with body cams \u2013 not only to restore dignity in<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>our men and women in blue but also to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>sieve out the bad apples for action to be taken.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Could body cams on these officers prevented them from these vile acts of deceit, fraud and double-dealings? Very likely. But what about those who were not wearing the body cams when they were carrying out their immoral, despicable and disgraceful acts?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the same vein,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the Government must<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>also invest resources to reform and improve the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>processes and procedures to ensure that the evidence from the body cams<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>is<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>used<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to minimise miscarriages<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in the criminal justice system.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Equipping officers with the hardware in the name of surveillance and evidence collection must<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>be fundamentally paired with greater transparency when conducting raids, at<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>roadblocks, at immigration counters,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in customs operations, in investigating crime scenes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>as evidence<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in domestic and sexual violence cases, trafficked victims, child abuse cases and many more.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It is evident that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>move to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>equip enforcement officers to use bodycams which<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a>was curatedand discussed to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a>be implemented<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>by Pakatan Harapan<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in its short stint<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>from 2018 to 2020has materialised<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>5 years later<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>under the MADANI Government.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Like many Malaysians, I look forward to the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a>timely<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>approval<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>through the 13th Malaysian Plan<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of the additional 10,000 bodycams<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for our men and women in blue as well<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>additional devices<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for immigration and customs officers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kasthuri Patto<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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DAP Central Executive<\/i><\/span>\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Committee Member<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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DAP Secretary for International Affairs<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

13th\u00a0Malaysia Plan \u2014\u00a0To uphold transparency, accountability and integrity, the\u00a0police,road transport department,\u00a0immigration and customs\u00a0must\u00a0all\u00a0be equipped with\u00a0body cams\u00a0with no delay\u00a0and\u00a0with that\u00a0a reform of the process and procedure\u00a0to minimise miscarriages in the criminal justice system. In the recent judgement on model\u00a0Ivana Smit\u2019s\u00a0death in 2017, judge\u00a0Roz Mawar\u00a0Rozain\u00a0described the police\u2019s\u00a0handling of the case a\u00a0\u201clitany of failures\u201d taking into account\u00a0the incompetence\u00a0and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":45641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[475],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-50935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50937,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50935\/revisions\/50937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}