Press Statement issued by the Vice-Chairman MCPF Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye
Vice-Chairman of the Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye today called on all Malaysians from all strata of society to be united in a common endeavor to combat crime and help address the public fear factor towards crime.
Lee also suggested political parties from both sides of the political divide should work with the Police by offering constructive suggestions on enhancing police performance to address crime and social ills with the involvement of NGOs, private sector and concerned citizens.
Constant police bashing will not help but sharing and implementing ideas on how the Police can achieve more in terms of solving and preventing crimes is the preferred approach.
On the part of the police it must always be prepared to listen and improve while taking steps to address its shortcomings and weaknesses.
Lee pointed out today that while making Malaysia crime-free is not possible more could and should be done to reduce crime in the country through enhanced community policing and further improvement in the delivery and monitoring of policing services for the benefit of the people with active public participation.
Crime and criminal activities have become an issue of major concern to all Malaysians. Violent and traumatic crimes must be viewed with utmost seriousness not only by the government, our law enforcement agencies and the judiciary but also by our communities as a whole.
The MCPF wishes to accord due recognition to police efforts to reduce both the street crime and index crime in the implementation of its approach to address crime and public safety.
Despite its success the Police has to relentlessly pursue its anti-crime Agenda and put in even greater efforts to fight crime and strive to be world-class in terms of policing.
In all fairness to the Police there is no doubt that its increased presence and joint patrols with other enforcement agencies in the crime hot spots has succeeded to reduce street and other crimes although such crimes still continue to occur.
I wish also to put on record that police efforts in reducing crime would not have been possible without public co-operation and participation of various NGOs like the MCPF which
have stood by the Police all the way in educating and encouraging the public to come forward to help prevent crime.
While much has been done by the Police in reducing crime, the IGP and his team must take steps to face even greater challenges in the days ahead.
The Police need to increase its policing effectiveness, adopt even better techniques and ways to deal with a changing landscape and enhance its role in the delivery and monitoring of policing services for the benefit of the people.
While much has been achieved to reduce crime, to me, the biggest challenge facing the Police is to have more engagements with the public to address the negative public perception and the fear of crime.
According to a recent media report as much as 52.9 percent of the population surveyed are affected by the fear of crime. The fear of crime is as serious as crime itself and this has to be addressed effectively.
On the educational front we need continuous awareness programmes to reach out to all strata of society and educate our youths and teenagers to keep away from social ills.
Our prime concern is with regard to the emergence of many social ills afflicting our youths and teenagers.
Schools need to tighten discipline with the help of teachers, parents and the authorities concerned. Parents must never abdicate their responsibility in the upbringing of their children and need to always think about their children, their safety outside of home and school.
Parents cannot be unconcerned about the problems of children growing up and must play their role to guide their children to grow up into good and useful individuals. The recent spate of missing children serves as a wake-up call to parents to exercise greater caution and vigilance over the safety of their children and do more for child protection.
If an increase in crime rate is part of the price of progress, then we will have to nip this negative aspect of development in the bud.
TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE VICE-CHAIRMAN
MALAYSIA CRIME PREVENTION FOUNDATION (MCPF)
