KUCHING: District police chief ACP Roslan Bek Ahmad strongly refuted an opposition assemblyman’s claim that the public have been left to fend for themselves against criminals.
Roslan congratulating Inspector Dorairajah of the district Criminal Investigation Department on his commendation certificate.
Addressing the media in a press conference following a monthly parade at district police headquarters here yesterday, a visibly annoyed Roslan called the statement issued by Padungan state assemblyman Wong King Wei “inaccurate and grossly unfair”.
“The statement made by the ADUN was devoid of facts and proper research, and based merely on assumptions.
“In my opinion, it is a very misleading and dangerous statement to make as it can sow public hatred towards the police,” he said of Wong’s claim which appeared in a local Malay daily on Monday.
He added the Padungan rep had insinuated that the police had passed the buck in fighting crime to the public , when in fact his men were working day and night to ensure the safety of the people.
Roslan also called the statement ‘shallow’ for questioning police personnel of Kuching district on what they were doing to protect the people.
“Firstly, we neither announce our strategies nor do we tell the public where we are going to be and when as it could be taken advantage of by criminals.”
“Secondly, his claim that there are 1,224 police personnel in Kuching is factually wrong, as there are only 976 officers and rank-and-file personnel. I don’t know where his figures came from although I certainly wish I had the extra manpower at my disposal.”
He stressed that the police had never once left the people to defend themselves and their property against criminals, but constantly engaged them through various crime prevention and community policing programmes such as Rakan Cop and Police and Clients Day.
The close cooperation, he said, was to complement the police in fighting crime as the community would act as the ‘eyes and ears’ and forward information on criminal activities to the police for further action.
Roslan believed that although the crime index from January to October this year declined by 17.49 per cent, segments of the public still perceived that the crime rate was increasing possibly due to information on criminal activities being shared on social media such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Wechat, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms.
He also announced that the police were working closely with residents of Jalan Urat Mata to launch a programme called ‘Know Your Neighbours Through the ‘t’ Concept’, to encourage each resident to get to know better those living in front and behind them, as well as on either side.
“We hope other housing estates will adopt the concept, which is important as your immediate neighbours are the ones nearest to offer immediate assistance in the event of an emergency prior to the arrival of the police.”
Earlier, the OCPD handed out commendation certificates and promotion stripes to officers and rank-and-file personnel during the monthly parade, before being surprised by his men with a specially-ordered cake for his 55th birthday.