KUALA LUMPUR: The government should increase its allocation for the police if it hopes to bring down the crime index as stated in the 11th Malaysia Plan, said Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice president, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.
He said with increased allocation, the police could acquire more assets and increase the strength of its personnel to combat criminal activities efficiently.
“This is one instance where we have to highlight the importance of increased allocation for the police.
“We have to be realistic, they need sufficient manpower and sophisticated assets in order to perform their duties.
“Only then will the public be confident about national security, and our targets can be achieved,” he told Bernama yesterday.
Lee cited the latest kidnappings in the Sabah east coast recently which he said would surely have an impact on the public who questioned the quality of national security.
He said following the incident, many people questioned the quality of work of those at the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom).
“I feel the authorities should review Esscom because the question that arises now is that they lack assets.
“If this is the problem, the government will have to provide more allocations to acquire assets and approve it faster,” Lee said.
According to Budget 2015 tabled last year, a total of RM9.1 billion had been allocated to the police force while RM660 million was to strengthen security in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) and Esscom.
The government is targeting a reduction of five per cent a year in the crime index, and improving the perception of security to 60 per cent by 2020 under the 11MP.
Based on the five-year plan tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday, the target could be achieved by police omnipresence, Safe City Programme and volunteer programmes.
The report also said the omnipresence of the police would be enhanced by re-assigning more personnel to perform their core policing duties, especially in crime prevention. — Bernama