Tuesday May 14, 2013

Rising crime trend worrying

OVER the last couple of weeks a number of high-profile crime cases were reported, re-igniting public condemnation against the perpetrators even as the police were redoubling their efforts to deal with the crimes.

Violent and traumatic crimes against the public, including innocent children, must be viewed with utmost seriousness not only by the Government, our law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, but also by our communities as a whole.

Such crimes have not helped the public’s perception of crime reduction statistics in the country.

While the police are doing their best to discharge their responsibilities, crime continues to occur and they have to put in more effort to deal with this.

In all fairness to the police, there is no doubt that their increased presence and joint patrols with other enforcement agencies in crime hot spots have succeeded to reduce street and other crimes, although such crimes still continue to occur.

Police’s efforts in reducing crime would not have been possible without public co-operation and the participation of various NGOs like the Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF), which have stood by the police since its inception in educating and encouraging the public to play a bigger role in crime prevention.

The police need to increase its policing effectiveness, adopt better techniques and ways to deal with a changing landscape and enhance its role in the delivery and monitoring of policing services for the benefit of the people.

To me, the biggest challenge facing the police is to have more engagement with the public to address the negative public perception and the fear of crime.

According to a recent media report, as much as 52.9% of the population surveyed are affected by the fear of crime.

This fear is as serious as crime itself and has to be addressed effectively.

The MCPF calls on all Malaysians from all strata of society to be united in a common endeavour to combat crime and help address the public’s fear towards crime.

Political parties from both sides of the divide should work with the police by offering constructive suggestions on enhancing police performance to address crime and social ills with the involvement of NGOs, private sector and concerned citizens.

Constant police bashing will not help but sharing and implementing ideas on how the police can achieve more in terms of solving and preventing crimes is the preferred approach.

On the part of the police it must always be prepared to listen and improve while taking steps to address its shortcomings and weaknesses.

While making Malaysia crime-free is not possible, more can and should be done to reduce crime through enhanced community policing and further improvements in the delivery and monitoring of policing services for the benefit of the people.

TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE

Vice-chairman, MCPF

News

Tuesday May 14, 2013

Rising crime trend worrying