YOURSAY 'Stop playing politics and work for the people who pay your salary. Don't serve BN, serve the rakyat.'

Cops serenade mall-goers to soothe crime fears

Lim Chong Leong: The police are really running out of ideas. Just go patrol the streets. Start with the carpark at that malls.

Go do your work instead of hiding behind trees and inside ‘longkang' (drains) to catch illegal U-turn and traffic light offenders to look for coffee money.

Stop beating up on protestors. Stop harassing opposition MPs. No need to sing for me. I will sing for you when you have done your job. And stop killing detainees.

Moontime: The authorities have this nagging and irritating approach when it comes to solving problems. They would always address the symptoms, never the cause.

It's akin to giving the patient Panadol, while in reality he is suffering from terminal brain cancer. Putting up a show for the public is fine as a publicity stunt but please, can you go further than that?

For starters, increase your presence in public areas. When I was in Canberra many years ago, I noticed police presence almost everywhere; engaging in small talk with the public, showing their concern with the problems of the community and sometimes even offering aid to the elderly.

Why can't we have the same thing here? Instead of focusing on Pakatan Rakyat/Bersih leaders and their activities, why don't you focus on us, the ordinary people?

Please don't be a meek follower of your perceived political masters, who are clearly facing their inevitable political demise soon.

Anonymous #32993250: Do your job of catching criminals; we don't need police to serenade the public to numb them from the real world.

We are experiencing crime every day due to the inefficiency of the police. Their presence is not felt on the ground, they do not walk the streets and hence there appears to be an increase in petty crimes and snatch thieves have become rampant.

KitaAkanSiasat: "To soothe crime fears"? Does that mean they want us to forget about the potential crimes that are lurking around the corner?

Come on, they could have done better. It would be more useful if they conduct some awareness campaigns instead.

I don't think it is right for these uniformed personnel to be in the entertainment business as there are more well-trained professionals who can do the job better. The police should concentrate on their job - to reduce crime.

D4f: Hey, the band should be playing in the basement carpark where it's all happening.

Odin: I think one should look at this from the positive side rather than jumping on the police right away. The police are trying to improve the negative picture many people have of them.

Perhaps playing music and singing is not the appropriate method. Perhaps the place where they played and sang is not the right venue.

But they are making a start. More importantly, they are at least trying. One can't expect a brat who is trying to prove that he is turning over a new leaf to execute his first redeeming action the right way.

Perhaps one should reserve one's judgment for the time being.

P Dev Anand Pillai: Our police may be one of the world's worst when it comes to understanding the needs of the public that it seeks to protect.

They may have hidden talents like being good musicians but policing is different, it needs some grey matter as the underworld is becoming very sophisticated and highly intelligent.

Further, they need to exercise restraint and discretion when they execute laws which are against our fundamental rights as embodied in our federal constitution. Only then can we say that our police have reached a level of maturity.

If they start by learning how to separate politics from policing they will do well.

Alia: First, we had the army doing the butt-dance, now we have the police singing! Who's looking after the security of the nation?

James1067: Why now do you want to make amends with the people by being closer to them.

Is it because the elections are around the corner and you want the people to believe that crime has been reduced and you are taking steps to combat it?

Look around the housing estates where lanes have been closed by oil drums and barb wires. They look like war zones. Now every developer comes up with the gated community concept for they realise that people don't feel secured and this concept sells easily.

Forget about perception. For most, at least one member of the family or extended family has fallen prey to snatch thieves.

Even today, whistleblowers are charged by the police. Loan sharks are still defacing the walls of buildings.

The public also notes the speed the police open a file or investigate as soon as a report has been filed against an opposition politician. Stop playing politics and work for the people who pay your salary.

CHKS: Solving cases based on CCTV is a re-active measure. More patrolling, more vigilance when on duty, less politicking to ensure crime does not occur in the first place, are pro-active measures.

Don't shift the blame on CCTV, etc. At the end of the day, as the law enforcers of the country, the police are responsible. Don't serve BN, serve the rakyat.

Ghkok: "Over-reporting"? "Only nine cases"? You've got to be joking. A woman gets kidnapped at knife-point in a car park, and another slashed in another car park.

One person kidnapped is already one too many. It is downright irresponsible to downplay crime. But I suspect it is not the police who are downplaying it.

I suspect that the police are under instructions from ‘above' to downplay it in view of upcoming general elections.

Longjaafar: All we ask is for the police to be professional. We understand that you work in very challenging surroundings and are short of almost all equipment, but that is another matter all together.

We just wonder why your top echelons are so subservient to politicians. Perhaps, they are selfish and only think about themselves - whether they are going to get an extension and whether they will be appointed to be director of a government-linked company.

TheSaint: Now you smile and shake hands with the peaceful public, but when instructed, like Dr Jekyll, you immediately transform into Mr Hyde and whack the daylights out of innocent people without any feeling, and you expect us to forget ‘what you all did last summer'.

Not Confused: This is a good start, but it will take a great deal more than a sing-a-long to change my perception of the police after my experience at Bersih 3.0.

Not all police are bad obviously, but the public view of the police has deteriorated almost beyond redemption.

Magic Mountain: There is an increased in crime because success rate is high. I am sure if a robber strikes once and gets what he wants, he will try again.

So we have to make sure they do not succeed. The problem is the attacks are brazen and in broad daylight and it is impossible to avoid unless the police are really doing their job.

Antrax: I hope the management of Mid Valley taped the singing police and play the songs in the car parks. Hope this will scare the robbers away.

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