GEORGE TOWN, July 3 — All quarters especially parents and the schools should cooperate with the police in dealing with bullying cases which have been rampant lately, said Penang police chief Datuk Chuah Ghee Lye.

He said parents need to play their parts in reporting to the school administration or the authorities should they have information on bullying cases, to ensure action would be taken immediately to curb such incidents.

"The police can embark on various ways in eradicating bullying and gangsterism among school students but it also requires the cooperation from the parents and teachers. If the teachers are restricted in providing information due to the attitude of the parents, then how are we going to act?” he asked after flagging off the state-level Kuala Lumpur 2017 Torch Run here today.

It was reported yesterday that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had stressed that bullying cases should be handled by the police instead of schools.

Chuah said the state police would deploy and station its school liaison officers among the police personnel at schools, and to hold periodic meetings with the state Education Department to curb bullying and gangsterism.

"Teachers and the school administration need to look at this problem in a holistic manner and should not overlook the safety aspect as they themselves could have been threatened by the gang members who do not only comprise the school students,” he said.

Chuah also said the police had the mechanism to deal with the problems but they required cooperation from both the parents and schools.

"Do inform (of the issues) to the authorities immediately and we will investigate the students’ involvement in gangsterism. If there is a truth behind it, they will be prosecuted under juvenile law,” he said. — Bernama