There is no better way to review the implementation of the Royal Police Commission’s recommendations after two years than to start with the front-page headline of Sin Chew Daily street edition for Thursday, “Police cannot refuse to accept report” following reports that in the case of the abduction-gang rape of a 19-year-old girl and her 22-year-old boyfriend in Johor Bahru on Monday, attempts to make report on the oncoming crime was shunted from Larkin Police Station to Tampoi Police Station and again to Johor Baru Tengah Police Station or the crime could have been averted with prompt police action.
Why is the problem of the police refusing to accept a report still prevalent in the country when it is supposed to have been rooted out for good two years ago?
When the Royal Police Commission started its public hearings in early 2004, police refusing to accept reports from the public was a common complaint.
As a result, the then Inspector-General of Police Bakri Omar summoned a meeting of police chiefs from across the country in May 2004 and warned that any police officer who refused to accept a report would be dealt with severely, and this warning was to be communicated to all police officers throughout the country.
But today, this most basic and elementary police duty to accept reports from the public is back again in the public limelight. Is police reform making progress after two years of the Royal Police Commission Report or are we back to square one? Continue reading “RPK allegations of top police corruption – urgent parliamentary debate next Tuesday”