Cops should embrace the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) for their own sake, said Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M).
TI-M urged the police to embrace the IPCMC as an opportunity to greatly improve their image and bring about overdue reforms.
In a statement, TI-M president Muhammad Mohan said the majority of the police force were honest civil servants but the entire force was tarnished by a few abusers.
He said police, though hardworking and dedicated, have a bad reputation due to negative public perception and overdue structural reforms.
“The criticism and doubt shrouding the RMP’s (Royal Malaysia Police) integrity and independence is no new phenomena. In the Malaysian Corruption Barometer Survey conducted by Transparency International in 2014, the RMP failed to make the grade, with 42 per cent of fellow Malaysians who perceived the institution as corrupt.
“Further findings from the survey also revealed that the second most common reason surveyed Malaysians did not report corruption was the perception that ‘it would not make a difference’ – suggesting lack of trust in the effectiveness of reporting channels, or that public officials have impunity when they commit corruption offences,” he said.
Mohamad pointed out that the lack of trust was exacerbated by the lack of transparency in custodial death investigations.
Statistics provided by the Home Ministry in a parliamentary reply on March 28, 2017, showed there had been at least 1,654 deaths in police custody.
The figure was for between 2010 and 2017, and most of the cases have not been reported in the media. There is no publicly available data on the outcomes of police’s internal investigations into allegations of foul play.
Mohamad also cited the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s (Suhakam) recent conclusion that the police were allegedly involved in the enforced disappearances of social activist Amri Che Mat and Pastor Raymond Koh.
“TI-M appreciates the sacrifice of these gatekeepers of law and order and urges the RMP to embrace these reforms and to be transparent so that public perception on the police force can be improved,” he said.
The IPCMC was mooted by the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the police in its report published in May 2005.
This was replaced by the watered down Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission in 2009 after the previous government failed to honour their pledge to improve public perception of the police’s integrity, said Mohamad.
Mohamad has urged the Pakatan Harapan government to retain all the original 125 recommendations in the Royal Commission report as to ensure the IPCMC has the necessary “teeth” to tackle misconduct.
Meanwhile, the police, in a turnaround, have given up fighting IPCMC, and are looking to new Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador to ensure their interests are upheld, The Malaysian Insight reported.
Officers believe Hamid will push for their welfare to be taken into account when police meet the Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre on IPCMC’s implementation, which is expected soon.