By Lim Guan Eng

Teresa Kok Appointed As Head Of The DAP Crime Action Taskforce(CAT) To Seek An Increase From The Present 10,150( 9%) Of Total Police Personnel Of 112,583 In The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) To 50% Or 56,000 To Immediately Restore Public Safety To Our Streets.

The emergency DAP Central Working Committee (CWC) on Monday night discussed the deteriorating crime situation that is developing into a full-blown crisis in Malaysia with adverse impact not only on personal security but also on tourism and business climate. With a shooting a day since the end of last month, the latest being the cold-blooded murder of a businessman Mohd Lutfi Mansor in a robbery in Dungun, the response by the Home Ministry is disappointing inaction and playing the blame game on the repeal of the Emergency Ordinance(EO).

DAP has decided to act by appointing DAP National Vice-Chair and MP for Seputih Teresa Kok as head of the DAP Crime Action Taskforce(CAT) to seek an increase from the present 10,150( 9%) of total police personnel of 112,583 in the Criminal Investigation Department(CID) to 50% or 56,000 to immediately restore public safety to our streets. There must be a total and complete focus by the police to revert to its statutory duty on fighting crime.

The answer is not a resuscitation of EO-like laws, but overwhelming police omnipresence in the streets and manpower and equipment resources to fight crime. What is so difficult about reallocating police strength from performing non-essential duties, including monitoring and dealing with political opponents of BN, to their core duties of fighting crime?

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has invited public ridicule with his mathematical acrobatics of an army of 260,000 criminals roaming the streets in Malaysia just because 2,600 detainess were released following the repeal of the EO. However if he sincerely believes his figure of 260,000 criminals on the loose is correct, he should take the urgent step of increasing the number of police personnel in CID from the present 9% to 50%. If 56,000 police personnel in the CID are still insufficient, then Ahmad should seek the help of the Army and United Nations.

The repeal of EO-like laws can not explain why guns are now so readily available until almost every robber in every state in Malaysia is armed with guns. After all the death penalty for possession of firearms or even a single bullet has still not being abolished. If guns can be so readily available when the death penalty is still in force, the repeal of EO is clearly not the cause of rising violent crime. Only police omnipresence can deter criminals and bring down the crime rate.

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Photo credits to harakahdaily.net

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