KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 – Higher police omnipresence, which has led to crime reduction and given a sense of security to the public, has been applied to deter terrorist incursion, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar(Pic). He said following the intrusion of Sulu terrorists (Feb 12), logistic support in Felda Sahabat, 130 km from Lahad Datu had been upgraded by deploying more policemen, adding more patrol cars, and building new police stations and upgrading old ones.
This is in line with the setting up of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) covering a coastline of 1,400 km from Kudat to Tawau involving various security agencies, particularly the police and the armed forces, he said in an interview in conjunction with the 206th Police Day celebration.
Ismail said the police might station officers from the peninsula in Sabah on rotation basis to further strengthen the police presence in places deemed necessary to restore peace and ensure that the public feel safe.
He said four new police stations made up of containers as a temporary measure would be opened in Pulau Bumbum, Semporna; Kota Gaya, Kota Kinabalu; and Tanjung Labian and Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu, and they would be manned by regular policemen and members of the general Operations Force (GOF).
Ismail said in an effort to enable police officers and men to mingle with the public with ease, the police would improve their communication skills by conducting 700 courses nationwide. He said the police had always placed public safety and security uppermost in their minds and the public could evaluate their achievements and quality of our service.
“Last year, the level of community satisfaction on the police service was 65.7 per cent which exceeded the target of 65 per cent,” he said, adding that he wanted all officers and members of the federal and state levels to meet the targets set.
In order to meet the targets, Ismail said he would ensure that the welfare of police officers and men were taken care of besides police assets under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) being upgraded. He said under the 10MP, 86 projects costing RM7.34 billion had been completed, 30 projects worth RM2.1 billion under construction, nine projects costing RM3.83 billion had been approved, and an allocation of RM9.9 billion had been approved to upgrade district police headquarters.
Ismail said he had proposed for more cadet inspectors to be recruited to deal with mounting peace and security challenges.
“We also want sergeants in early 20s to be trained as investigating officers for at that age they have the physical and mental strength to deal with the demand of investigations,” he added.
BERNAMA
