OCTOBER 7 — The police should act against those who lodge reports based on flimsy grounds merely to achieve political ends. This is to stem the rising trend of police reports being used for anything but to track down criminals or crime prevention.
Those who lodge such frivolous and politically-motivated reports do so at the expense of taxpayers' resources. As it is, the manpower of our men in blue in combating crime is already stretched thin. They could do without police reports based on "information" that stretches one's imagination.
As an enforcer of law and order, proper respect must be accorded to the police force. They should not be treated like a political tool to intimidate and frustrate one's political opponents. Roping the Royal Malaysian Police into one's political theatrics is an affront to an important public institution as well as to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.
Of late, several controversial police reports had been lodged. These include claims that an NGO had been infiltrated by the Islamic State; that three retired senior civil servants - all bearing the "Tan Sri" titles - were involved in a conspiracy to topple the government and a report against the government's decision to award pension to our Olympic medalists. And who can forget Rani Kulup, who had hundreds of police reports to his name, with the latest asking the government to ban Pokemon Go mobile game in Malaysia.
Under Section 182 of the Penal Code, one convicted of lodging a police report based on false information is liable to be jailed up to six months or fined a maximum of RM2,000 or both. The police should look into some of these questionable reports with a view of charging those who use such reports for political means.
This will send a strong message to those considering such political gimmicks in the future to reconsider. It would also help free up the police's resources to attend only to bona fide cases.
* This statement is released by Ng Yeen Seen, vice-president of Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet)
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
