Recently there were a lot of news and complaints about the brutality of the Malaysian police force. However, there was little mention on how the men and women in the streets perceive the police.

For the many years that I have been living in Malaysia, I have many Malaysian friends of all races and creed. I believe I have a reasonable idea about how the people generally think about the police, whether rightly or wrongly.

The recent incidences of alleged police mistreatment of suspects that was so widely publicised, both locally and internationally, would only amplify such feelings and perceptions. The bad perception and impression of the general public about the police force are:

The police are corrupt, abusive, rude, not very intelligent and appear uneducated.

The police are bullies who pick on the weak.

The police cannot be trusted and one never knows what they would do to you when one is under their power.

The police are too secretive and their actions are totally lacking in transparency.

The police do not respect the public nor have their welfare at heart.

The police are feared but not respected by the public because there seems to be a serious lack of accountability.

The police are incompetent, unprofessional, inconsiderate, intimidating and vengeful.

The police always cover things up and protect their own at the expense of the public.

The police is the strong arm of the government, as well as the rich and the powerful, and help them in silencing dissent. They act like official gangsters, and they are not independent.

The police do not respect and are ignorant of the law of the land, and they usually take the law into their own hands.

I believe the above list covers most of the bad impression that the Malaysian public feels about their police force. It is not an accusation, and the perception could be totally wrong and unjustified. These are impressions which the people dare not openly express for fear of retaliation and victimisation. Nevertheless, this fear alone shows the insidious control that the police have over the people, and the fear, be it true or not, is very real indeed.

It remains highly regrettable that the Malaysian public has such a low opinion of their police force and in view of the current uproar of police brutality, perhaps it is time for the police force to do some soul-searching and decide where they want to go from here. To affirmatively embrace an independent watchdog would be a good start to instil some credibility in the force, but only if the police are sincere and determined to serve the people who pay their salaries and whom they are sworn to serve and protect.