Gerakan Head of Central Bureau on Environment, Safety and Quality of life cum Kedah Gerakan Chairman Dr Cheah Soon Hai expresses his disappointment and regrets when he refers to the dispute between a youth and policeman which took place in Ipoh last week, the event ended up with both pointing fingers at each other. Dr Cheah finds that repetition of such incident is will only further tarnish the image of our country.

Dr Cheah said, “Base on the case, normally there will be unhappy emotions when policemen were requested to show his police ID, and whenever such incident happens, senior police officers will come forward to clear the dispute. However, from the perspective of the people, they would always feel that the officer favors and protects the subordinates. That’s why policemen hardly give any positive impression to the people, sometimes they even get disappointed with the police.”

Dr Cheah who is also Derga State Assemblyman urges the government to reconsider setting up an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (“IPCMC”) to govern the behaviour of the law enforcers. He said, “Clashes between commoner and policemen always happen, the police force feels that rakyat are arrogant while rakyat blames the police for their failure to protect the public due to its incompetence. It is believed that the unnecessary misunderstanding between people and the police force could be relieved by setting up the IPCMC.”

Dr Cheah said, “Our previous Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi attempted to set up the IPCMC, now it’s time to reconsider it and strengthen the enforcement to protect the image of the Police force and regain the confidence of the public towards the Royal Malaysian Police.