SHAH ALAM, May 5 — Police personnel who serve lawfully have nothing to fear from the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today.
In his policy speech at the opening of the 2019 DAP National Conference here, Lim also assured the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) that the proposal for the IPCMC is not aimed at punishing them but meant to be a mechanism to check the abuse of their powers.
“I want to praise the new IGP (inspector-general of police) for supporting the formation of the IPCMC. This is not to penalise anyone. Not to penalise the police, no, but it’s something beyond.
“To make sure that the huge power that is given to a very important institution such as the RMP, if there is an abuse of that power by some in the force, action can be taken. That is all.
“So if the police do their jobs according to the available powers, there is nothing they should worry about,” Lim told a packed hall here.
The proposed IPCMC was among the 125 recommendations made by a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) formed in February 2004 following public uproar over a growing number of deaths in detention and police brutality claims.
The proposed commission remains unrealised as the Abdullah administration chose instead to form the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), which lacked enforcement powers.
While the Pakatan Harapan administration said it will introduce the IPCMC, progress has been held up in order for the government to address prevailing concerns among the police about the commission’s role.
