Malaysia: More police and still more crime
By Yukiko Ohashi

KUALA LUMPUR - There are currently just over 80,000 police officers on the beat in Malaysia, protecting a population of 22 million, with another 23,000 officers to be recruited over the next five years. By the end of 2003, the Royal Malaysian Police Force or PDRM, had already absorbed 4,000 new police personnel.

Yet, judging by the screaming headlines in the English, Malay and vernacular press, Malaysia is none the better and no safer. Kidnappings, break-ins, car-jackings and sex crimes, as well as child abuse, violent practical jokes (even in religious schools) and snatch thefts, which often result in deaths, have been plastered in national headlines for more than a year.

Nor is this surprising: statistics released by the PDRM show that Malaysia had more than 125,000 cases of "hard" crime in 2002 alone. This figure has not declined over the past two years.

Indeed, the PDRM, having been caught under-paid, under-staffed and under-equipped for a good part of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed's administration, is, pardon the pun, unable to arrest the trend.

Furthermore, most of the crimes are taking place in high-density population centers like Petaling Jaya (population, 1.5 million), where the police to population ratio is 1:1,154.

Although the crime wave in Malaysia, by international standards, is still manageable compared to high crime countries such as Colombia, South Africa, Russia, Mexico, Latvia and Estonia, all of which are practically beyond redemption as the political apparatus in those countries has been compromised by criminal syndicates, the crime debate in Malaysia has taken on a new urgency.

This is because the Malaysian opposition, led by Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), has been riding on the crime issues for years. Lim has categorically affirmed that the PDRM is not only failing in its responsibility to raise its dismal crime detection rate of 37%, but also is actually propping up the Malaysian government through the inappropriate distribution of forces.

For instance, when the 4,000 new recruits were added to the PDRM in late 2003, most of them, according to Lim, went into beefing up the Federal Reserve Unit and the Air Wing, military branches of the country's armed forces.

Such a step invariably strengthens the ability of the police to protect the present regime but does not contribute in any way to restoring Malaysian citizens' sense of public security.

In Malaysia, the police are a primary tool used by the state to ensure public security, while at the same time, they also protect the regime, a power invoked most vividly during the days of the reformasi movement from 1998-2001. In those days, the baton-wielding Federal Reserve Unit, also known as the dreaded FRU, chased and clubbed peaceful demonsrators rooting for jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is being detained on charges of sodomy and corruption, charges that he flatly denies.

In this context, the PDRM has been known to play a paradoxical role: it is directly involved in the protection and, when circumstance demands it, the consequent violation of fundamental human rights.

In February, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi moved to set up a Royal Commission to look into the operations and management of the police. Observers have said that the commission was formed to repair the damage to the image of the police caused by a spate of allegations of police brutality, shootings of criminal suspects and custodial violence and deaths.

The inquiry on the PDRM has since begun its consultation, but its findings will not be completed before the end of the year.

And while Abdullah has asked the inquiry to suggest and implement any useful steps to stop the crime wave, none have been forthcoming.

Instead, the prime minister has suggested that legislation needs to be changed to allow for "citizen policing", which would give members of the public and a voluntary force the power to make on-the-spot citizens' arrests.

Yet, this policy runs counter to a public ethos in Malaysia that prefers to let the PDRM do the nitty-gritty work. It is not likely to gain traction when brought to fruition. By the same token, the PDRM would be none too willing to tip their hats to the country's citizens.

In terms of reform, the PDRM has also been weak in seizing initiatives. Having grown accustomed to is role in "regime policing", it does not require public legitimacy to be effective.

Furthermore, the PDRM has few, if any, accountability mechanisms in place. Consistent with its role in protecting the regime, criminal detection capabilities are weak and concentrated in limited areas and among limited constituencies (ie, wealthy neighborhoods and business elite).

Although the PDRM is changing, its intelligence-gathering structures by and large are focused on identifying enemies of the regime rather than gathering criminal intelligence.

As a result of excessive concentration on policing for political control, the PDRM's understanding and practice of crime prevention are poorly developed, though there is little tradition of visible or community policing on which to build. This too undermines the concept of "citizen policing".

Right now, public safety in Malaysia has not reached critical proportions, although the threshold of tolerance can only lower in time if the crime wave is not brought down quickly.

As it is, despite the high crime rate in Malaysia, law enforcement officials and the criminal justice system seem to be coping adequately with the problems that have occurred - so far. But increasingly, this issue will impinge more and more on the integrity and ability of Abdullah to remain at the helm.

When Abdullah took over from Mahahthir last October, he fired the first salvo by establishing the Royal Commission, which was unprecedented in Malaysian history - traditionally the PDRM, due to their regime policing role, has been above rebuke, reproach, or the law.

As such, the hopes of the Malaysian public have already begun to rise, even as the inquiry begins its session. If there is any about-turn on the policy to strengthen the PDRM and turn it into it a lean effective unit, however, Abdullah's credibility will suffer a serious blow.

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