Part of the 52 new police patrol cars on show at state police headquarters.
Sabtu symbolically flags off the first batch of new patrol vehicles yesterday.
Sabtu getting behind the wheel of the new Proton Inspira patrol vehicle. Looking on is Hamzah.
KUCHING: The ability of the state police to better serve the people was handed a boost yesterday with the addition of 52 new Proton Inspira 2.0 cars for its Mobile Patrol Vehicle (MPV) unit.
The vehicles – part of the first batch of new patrol cars for Sarawak – was received by state police commissioner Dato Sri Muhammad Sabtu Osman from the CEO of Spanco Sdn Bhd Dato Hamzah Mohd Salleh during a ceremony at state police headquarters here.
In his speech, Sabtu said the new additions to the MPV unit was important in boosting the quality of service provided to the public as police patrolmen are the ‘first responders’ in any incident reported to the police.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that the MPV unit is akin to mobile police stations as they are on the move 24 hours a day and have to deal with all kinds of situations. Their main objective is crime prevention as well as providing assistance to the public in times of emergencies,” he said, adding that MPV patrolmen can be considered as the ‘closest friend’ of the public in times of need.
Sabtu went on to urge all MPV personnel to make full use of the new vehicles to maintain the good image of the force by providing quick and quality service.
Out of the 52 new Proton Inspira patrol cars, 18 were given to Kuching district police headquarters, while Miri, Bintulu and Padawan district police headquarters received 13, 12, and seven vehicles respectively.
The remaining two new patrol cars were handed over to the Astana. The second batch of new patrol cars is expected to be received on December 23. Among those present during the handing-over ceremony were acting deputy state police commissioner Dato Mohd Jasmani Yusoff as well as state Crime Prevention and Community Safety department head SAC Gan Tian Kee.