Cries of police officers baffling activists

PETALING JAYA: The vice chairman and the executive council member of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation have expressed disbelief towards the plight of police officers in the country.

The issue was highlighted in a story FMT carried yesterday upon interviewing some personnel from the force.

When called for comments, Lee Lam Thye and Robert Phang were stunned to be made aware that police personnel are facing shortage of funds in their respective departments.

Earlier, in a phone conversation, Lee requested FMT to send an email with regards to the issue as he has yet to be briefed about the matter.

However, later in a short sms exchange, Lee notified FMT that he wished to personally check and confirm the issues before making any comments.

“I am sorry, no comment at the moment, I wish to check and confirm the matter first,” said Lee who is also a social activist.

On the other hand, Phang when contacted repeatedly asked whether the allegations by police officers came from solid data.

“Are you sure this is happening,” he asked.

Upon being given more details, Phang immediately told FMT that the occurring problems have to be addressed as soon as possible; and further stressed that it must be stopped immediately.

 

Phang added that the problem will only demoralize police officers and compromise thorough and impartial investigations.

“We have to stop this at once, this is discouraging the men and women in blue, they are doing a very tough job and they are not suppose to face this kind of problem,”

The former MACC advisory panel member then appealed to the Inspector General of Police to seriously look into the grievances faced by the officers.

The Chairman of Social Care Foundation also urged the responsible authority to take the matter seriously as it would affect the work ethics of the officers.

“They are not suppose to use their own pocket money to fill up the fuel although they are using their own motorbikes,”

“I appeal the IGP to look into this matter and I hope that it can be resolved soon,” Phang said.

It was reported yesterday that police officers have for long suffered their own internal problems as they face shortage of funds in their respective departments.

According to a lance corporal, due to the shortage of patrol cars and the long process of reporting a damaged car, he preferred to ride his own bike although he has to bear the cost of petrol.

Meanwhile an investigation police officer from Penang, who served in the Special Branch for more than eight years, explained that the distribution of funds from the government was not funneling as planned.

He has yet to receive proper and adequate office equipments such as laptops and printers. There were several other officers who shared the same opinion as him.

“Apart from investigative jobs, I have to produce reports of all the cases I am investigating, but equipments are not up to standard. I’ve been using my own money to buy the A4 paper.

Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/10/11/cries-of-police-officers-baffling-activists/