The front gates of police stations across the country will be closed after 10pm as part of a measure to strengthen security following the recent incident at the Ulu Tiram police station in Johor, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The Home Minister told the Dewan Rakyat that several key measures have been taken by the police including tightening security at police stations while taking into consideration the needs of the people and safety of policemen on duty.
“In response to the incident at the Ulu Tiram police station, the immediate action of the police was to tighten the standard operating procedure for all district police headquarters, police stations and main police premises under administrative orders to improve on several directives.
“The administrative directive of the permanent order of the Inspector-General of Police also includes that police stations will be closed after 10pm.
“We have to balance the role of the police station as a place for the public to lodge complaints and at the same time, police stations are also targets. Therefore, we need to balance both,” he said in reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Richard Riot (GPS-Serian) who asked about additional measures taken to tighten security at police stations across the country following the Ulu Tiram incident, recently.
However, in a statement in the evening, the Home Ministry clarified that the public can still enter police stations to make reports at all times.
It added that the “gate closure” directive applies more to police stations that are “at risk”, without elaborating where they are.
On May 17, two policemen, Konst Ahmad Azza Fahmi Azhar, 22, and Konst Muhamad Syafiq Ahmad Said, 24, were killed while another police officer, Kpl Mohd Hasif Roslan, 38, was injured by gunshots to the shoulder and hip when attacked by a male assailant at the Ulu Tiram police station. The perpetrator was also killed in the incident.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin Nasution said that investigations revealed that the attacker had isolated himself from the public and even from his close family members.
“The attacker believed that his own parents were infidels as they prayed at the government mosque.
“The attacker and his siblings also did not go to government schools as they believed these schools were for infidels.
“When they have such understanding and only think that their belief is the perfect one, it is not strange why the assailant took such actions,” added Saifuddin Nasution.
He stressed that such activities must be curbed.
On June 19, five family members of the Ulu Tiram police station attacker were charged at the Sessions Court, with a total of nine charges between them.
