'More SB officers now than during Emergency'
Going by the number of special branch (SB) officers in the police force, Malaysia under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak appears to be worse off than during the first period of Emergency.
Going by the number of special branch (SB) officers in the police force, Malaysia under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak appears to be worse off than during the first period of Emergency.
Noting this in the Dewan Rakyat today while debating the Budget 2014 proposals, Steven Sim (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) said the SB unit had 459 people in 1954, then making up 2 percent of the entire force.
However, in 2012, there were 8,200 SB officers in the police force - up by more than 3,000 officers compared to the period under the Abdullah Ahmad Badawi administration.
"During the Emergency, the SB was a unit specifically for intelligence operations and work related to the Emergency. Is Malaysia under (Najib) worse than during the Emergency?" asked Sim.
He also said that, last year, the SB had produced about 380,000 reports, which he believes include surveillance on politicians.
"This works out to 1,000 reports a day. In contrast, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) only managed to solve 60,000 cases filed that year. This is just 15 percent. Wouldn't it be good if the SB's efficiency can be used to fight crime?"
He added that the budget for the SB unit is 5.7 percent of the total police budget, while the CID budget is 7.7 percent of the total budget.
Last month, Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had said that police have informed him that they do not spy on politicians.
Police spokesperson Ramli Mohamed had earlier this year said that, although there are different divisions in the police force, the activities of 80 percent of the force are directed at combating crime.
