Last week, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador exposed the ugly side of the police force, including the existence of a “cartel of young police officers” in the police force that is plotting to remove him from office and tarnish his reputation. More surprisingly, IGP also claimed that even former IGP are involved in acts that destabilise the police force.
IGP’s remarks involved matters related to appointments and transfers of the country’s largest law enforcement agency, internal power struggles, and the severity of corruption, which seriously undermined the public’s trust in the police force.
Therefore, all parties must urge the government to set up a Royal Commission to conduct a transparent and independent investigation to uncover the truth and restore the credibility of the police officers.
As a matter of fact, IGP is about to retire in May. Considering that IGP has the ambition to curb the long-standing corrupt practices in the police force before leaving office, the government and opposition parties must unite and support the IGP’s effort. All parties mustn’t miss the opportunity to reform the police force by adopting the “ostrich policy” for selfish political interests.
Given that the IGP kept exposing the corrupt practices in the police force, he must be facing a whirlwind of criticisms and pressure within the police force itself. Hence, politicians, both in the ruling and opposition parties, should stand side by side with the IGP and support his calls.
On the other hand, ignoring IGP’s calls for reform will eventually lead to severe counterattacks from the deep state that nip the golden opportunity to reform the police force in the bud.
In order to curb the corrupt practises and reform the police force to regain people’s trust, both the government and the opposition must be bold to push forward three (3) initiatives.
First, Setting up Royal Commission:
Based on the claims made by the IGP, the Royal Commission can begin to investigate and reveal all corrupt practised in the police force once and for all. Such initiative provides an avenue for public opinion to become a substantive part of the checks and balances that ensures that the police force will stride towards professionalism and transparency.
Second, Pushing Forward Police Reforms in Parliament:
Among the most important reforms include making it mandatory for the police force to report to the Parliament about police affairs and enforcements on a regular basis. In other words, the police force will be responsible to the Parliament instead of being controlled by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Home Affairs in order to make sure that the police force functions as an independent entity based on democratic governance.
Third, Establishing Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC):
IPCMC, as an independent body, will have the credibility to conduct investigations of police officer misconduct complaints. However, the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) bill tabled by the PN government will only form a weakened and powerless commission as it does not have enough authority to investigate police misconduct. Thus, the proposed IPCC is far short of the people’s expectations of an independent body that monitors and scrutinizes the police force.