Special Branch has never provided any reports to the PR Penang CM since assuming office in 2008
The police Special Branch has never provided any reports to the PR Penang Chief Minister since assuming office in 2008 but presumably only to the Home Affairs Minister. Clearly such practice of providing reports to the chief minister on the performance of elected representatives and their electoral chances, as exposed by former Penang state exco member Toh Kin Woon in the Bersih People’s Tribunal, has been discontinued by the police after PR took over.
Even though I hold monthly meetings of the State Public Order And Security Council chaired by me and attended by the State Chief Police Officer, only crime is discussed. There have been no feedback from the Special Branch and the state has no access to information about the performance of any elected representatives nor of any weak areas that need attention.
During those monthly meetings of the State Public Order And Security Council, the main focus is on how to collaborate as well as share information and resources to combat and reduce crime. These council meetings serve a useful joint anti-crime effort that has succeeded in making Penang one of the safest cities in Malaysia with the highest reduction in crime index for 5 years consecutively since 2008.
Even the recent spike in crime this year has been addressed through the state government offering to install CCTVs and hiring people to monitor them so that policemen can be released to perform their core duties of street patrols. Further the setting up of Voluntary Patrol Teams(PPS) to conduct community policing has helped to police to focus on crime hotspots. The more than 8% rise in crime for the first 5 months of the year has been reduced to 3.3% by September this year.
Even though there are no reports or briefings from the Special Branch, the Penang state government will still continue with the monthly Public Order and Security Council meetings as it is a useful platform to harness all resources and collaborate with all agencies and parties to fight crime.
