GEORGE TOWN, Oct 12 — All positions in the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) are sensitive because any police officer can abuse their power or lured into corruption, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain.
Accordingly, he himself has ordered the Department of Integrity and Standards Compliance (JIPS) to investigate any officer or police personnel living in luxury beyond their means.
“There is a saying that CID (Criminal Investigation Department) is a sensitive post (position) in the PDRM, in my opinion all positions are sensitive because any police officer who has power can misuse it and engage in corruption.
“When you abuse power and get enmeshed in corruption, the post is sensitive, automatically the post is sensitive.. tell me which post is not sensitive in the PDRM, the CID is sensitive, the Marine Police Force (PPM) is sensitive and even the General Operations Force (GOF) that guards the border (the country) is even more sensitive.
“For now, I can tell you that we the top leadership (PDRM) will not compromise and will not help any officer or police personnel involved in abuse of power and corruption including wayward management,” he told media here today.
Razarudin said this after presiding at the commemoration of the 76th Marine Police Day at Marine Police Force Region 1 headquarters in Batu Uban here today, which was also attended by Penang police chief Datuk Khaw Kok Chin.
Meanwhile, Razarudin said the statement issued by Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Shuhaily Mohd Zain warning police officers who live in luxury by colluding with crime syndicates was the incontrovertible focus for him (Razarudin) and the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.
He said the matter had indeed been discussed with the directors of Bukit Aman upon which he instructed them to raise integrity because it plays a big role in the image of PDRM so as to increase public trust in the police force.
“What Datuk (Seri) Shuhaily released in the statement was centred on my focus, even before that I had discussed with the DIG and Shuhaily (who) himself was peering at officers who live luxuriously.
“But if he (a police officer) is able to live a luxurious life, for example a sergeant whose wife is indeed paid RM80,000 a month as the senior officer of a company, it’s okay if he wants to buy an airplane but if their household income does not commensurate with luxurious living…,” he said.
Razarudin said JIPS is currently inspecting and reviewing all officers and policemen to ensure they fill in asset declarations, especially additional property, to ensure it is in line with their income.
He said the PDRM will also internally correct the shortcomings of the agency in order to restore the integrity and trust of the people in the police force.
“So actually let’s fix this internally first, if I talk like this and not take action, it’s not right either. So it’s better in this matter that we take internal action and not cast aspersions on others.
“If you ask me about whether officers and members are involved with the (crime) syndicates, I have to say ‘Yes, I was the Director (Criminal Investigation Department) of Narcotics in the past, there were indeed officers linked to the syndicate(s) and we took action under the Special Preventive Measures,” he said.
He said that from the beginning of this year until this month, a total of 90 officers and policemen were arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) (but) that number was comparatively small compared to the total number of PDRM officers and members.
He said PDRM had opened investigation papers on disciplinary cases against 881 police officers as of January to this month, which is about 0.06 per cent of the 130,000 policemen in the police force.
