KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — Former Inspector General of Police Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar today welcomed the setting up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) by the government today.

He spoke to reporters after chairing Malaysian Institute of Management’s (MIM) press conference on the launch of the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s leadership series which will be held on December 19.

"The move to set up the IPCMC is timely given so many issues had arisen regarding the police force in recent times,” said Mohammed Hanif.

Thirteen years after it was first mooted, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government has finally agreed to establish the IPCMC

The establishment of the IPCMC was also one of the pledges in PH’s manifesto for the 14th General Election.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said the IPCMC would replace the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), and would act as an independent body to look into police complaints more holistically.

One of the main reasons for the formation of the IPCMC was the large number of deaths of inmates in police custody.

"We should emulate the United Kingdom system where those personnel working in the police station were not "beholden” to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

"The CID have to get permission from the station officers to conducts interrogation of prisoners and all the interrogation rooms are equipped with CCTV’s which are monitored by police station personnel. This greatly reduces the possibility of any untoward incidents occurring while the interrogation takes place,” added Mohammed Hanif.

He also said that not all deaths in custody could be attributed to the police as some were due to fights among the inmates.