Disgraced former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor has argued over the weekend in Mingguan Malaysia that the new law to replace the Emergency Ordinance (EO) must permit “preventive detention”.
He claimed the police have admitted that gangsterism is on the rise and even gone “out of control”. According to the former IGP, the police turned into mere observers, becoming completely helpless in crime prevention since the repeal of the EO.
“They see the situation as having gone out of control. Preventive arrests cannot be made because the laws no longer permit it. Gangsterism is getting worse but they cannot keep it contained,” he said. Tan Sri Rahim painted a bleak picture of the Royal Malaysian Police today, “it’s like they have broken wings. Things are no longer like they were before. Intelligence gathered can only be documented”.
Instead of justifying the EO, the above admission by the former IGP is the most damning piece of testimony of the competence and professionalism of the Royal Malaysian Police has declined to deplorable standards. Tan Sri Rahim argued that "the information gathering and tracking is done by the police. They know more deeply about the crime world”. However, the “intelligence gathered can only be documented” with no further action possible. As a result, these criminals “are free to extort businessmen and rob businesses. Gang fights also keep happening around Klang Valley and Malacca where they kill each other.”
That however, can only mean that either the “intelligence” isn’t very intelligent, or there isn’t anyone intelligent to exercise the “intelligence” to fight crime.
Hence the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak was in this case, absolutely spot on when he decreed that “now police must train themselves how to look for evidence” upon repealing the EO. Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention, Dato’ Seri Najib demanded the police to now “provide evidence to charge them in court”.
The former IGP also dismissed the views of the Attorney General (AG) claiming he “does not know fully about the twist and turns and modus operandi of criminals especially those involved in gangsterism”.
Perhaps Malaysians really do not understand the twist and turns of those involved in gangsterism, it was Tan Sri Rahim Noor himself who had beaten former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to pulp while the latter was in custody. Despite evidence to the contrary, the Police had for the longest period denied any abuse on their part, and even suggested that Datuk Seri Anwar had given himself the infamous black eye.
Instead of taking his advice on the EO, Tan Sri Rahim Noor’s action instead exemplifies the need to repeal the EO as the police, and even the IGP lacks the competence and cannot be trusted to decide who is or is not guilty before a person is charged in Court. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for example, has been acquited of all charges against him.
We ask that the Government adopts the AG’s position in this matter, that “the existing laws are sufficient to tackle criminals”, and that “it is better to let more guilty people go free than to send the innocent to jail”.
Therefore, the Police must start to lose their dependence on the EO like a crutch and instead, both the Home Minister and the Police must immediately focus the crime-fighting efforts such as restructuring the police force by reallocating more personnel to fight crime and setting up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
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