The problem is international. Police abuse around the globe is a serious problem. It has a long history, and it seems to defy all attempts at eradication in most countries.

Malaysia is no exception and not completely free of cases involving police misconduct relating to abuse of power and brutality.

We remember in 1991, our television screens flashed news of police brutality in Los Angeles showing vividly the beating of a young man named Rodney King by members of the Los Angeles Police Department. An amateur video, televised nationwide in the United States (and internationally) King lying on the ground while three officers kicked him and struck him repeatedly with their nightsticks.

The televised images on the viciousness of the beating of King into our living rooms probably did not stir as much horror in our minds as the incident of police brutality was too distant from our Malaysian shores.

Years after that incident, police abuse in the US is still very much an American problem and worsening. It was getting worse, according to views expressed by Amnesty International (AI) secretary-general Pierre Sane in 1998 who added that the warlike mentality in that country aggravated the situation.

"There is a war on crimes, there is a war on drugs and there is a war on illegal immigrants. Law enforcement agencies are given a lot of scope to deal with these issues which are presented as national threats. In a context like that, human rights are likely to be a casualty", he said.

Globally, it is a reality that police abuse and related brutality remain a pertinent serious issue in the face of human rights protection. The 2004 AI report on the Asia and Pacific regional overview outlined grave concerns on a host of issues affecting humanity stretching across continents of India to China covering all Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia.

Major issues covering denial of civil and political rights, mass arrest and arbitrary detention of political activists, allegations of sexual abuse and ill-treatment, police corruption, deaths caused by local armed conflicts and violence against women were highlighted. Police abuse and brutality was not mentioned at all in that report.

Instead, it reported: "Arbitrary detentions and unfair trials took place under security legislation in force in China, India, Malaysia, Nepal and Pakistan."

Wake-up call

Our official reactions toward the incident believed to have involved a Chinese national (who was allegedly ordered to perform 'ear-squats' in a police lock up) included a top-level decision to set up an independent body to investigate into the specific case.

Official and public reactions on the King incident and the Malaysian 'ear-squats' incident uncannily share several similarities. Both were prominently sensationalized in print and image by local and world press particularly via electronic media across continents.

Although the Malaysian case did not involve police brutality or violence unlike the King's case, it caused a major embarrassment to the government and a hurricane of rumor-mongering within China which reinforced fears among our local business community of a possible backlash in the areas of tourism and trade between the countries.

Yet again, it has proven that human nature does transcend all superficial physical differences of colour, race, creed and even nationality. Characteristics and reactions particularly from politicians across the globe were indeed predictable.

The Malaysian government and political leaders behaved and reacted in almost similar fashion as the American politicians responding to the King incident. The US government then condemned police use of excessive force and appointed a special commission to investigate incident of brutality.

In the Malaysian case, there was an additional remedial move to send Home Minister Azmi Khalid to China as a desperate attempt to correct arising misinterpretation and perceptions over the whole affair there.

Extensive publicity coverage was prominently given by both the American and Malaysian press media in regard to the separate respective incidents. Public reactions were similar, there was an outrage across the nation and triggered a wide spectrum of views from the man-in-the-street to the corridors of power.

It also begs a question. Why did it take a specific incident to spark a wave of public outcry and reactions despite the fact hundreds if not thousands of other cases have happened in America and Malaysia almost on a daily basis?

Previously, few Malaysians really paid attention to local abused victims. Legal advisor to Malaysian Police Watch and Human Rights Committee P Uthayakumar openly asked, "What about the justice to the hundreds if not thousands of others who were not as fortunate and suffered their ordeal and trauma in silence?"

The underlying message to the government was clear and loud - an earlier incident involving a Chinese national (who is married to a Malaysian businessman) should not be viewed as an exclusive case but part and parcel of past incidents accumulated over time on police abuses and harassments that might have caused injustice to many Malaysians experiencing similar experiences and circumstances.

The reality of the situation is just as disturbing as the official reactions. Are these incidents merely the tip of the iceberg?. Should we merely react to the specific incident on an ad hoc basis merely to satisfy our national interest (i.e. China) or rather initiate a deeper study on the underlying causes and contributing factors as to why police abuse and brutality take place?

We are at a crucial junction of making key choices. The wiser step should be to ensure that brutality need not and should not be part of aggressive policing. We should be weary of the fact that police brutality in Malaysia could one day be a daily occurrence as compared to the scenario in the US or other developed countries already showing worsening trends. Prevention is better than cure.

Importantly, current government efforts on alleged police abuse against foreign nationals should not be the only focus but a long term determination to ensure good law enforcement and policing in the country.

Realities and concerns

It is not a question whether our policing is effective or otherwise although no police department in the country is known to be completely free of misconduct. The government and NGOs should make concerted efforts in ensuring our police force need not follow similar trends and examples faced by other countries on serious problems involving police abuse and brutality.

Nevertheless, all these negative trends and developments must be fought locally alongside with the recommendations outlined in the report of the Royal Commission on the Police. Today, among both police officials and rank and file officers, it is widely recognised within the majority of the 92,927 strong personnel that the move to wipe out corruption is a positive move.

Sometimes outmoded and abusive police practices prevail largely because no one among them including their peers and superiors has ever questioned them.

Our policing situation has not reached the depths of exasperation and depravity in comparison to more developed countries like the US. Public rallies organised in many American cities against police brutality have become a norm rather than an exception.

In 1998, AI tabled a 150-paged report on 'United States of America: Rights for All' covering police brutality, the unjust and racist use of the death penalty.

On police brutality, the report said: "There is widespread and persistent problem of police brutality. Thousands and individual complaints about police abuse are reported each year. Police officers have beaten and shot unresisting suspects; they have misused batons, chemical sprays and electro-shocks weaponspeople have beaten, kicked, punched, choked and shot by police officers, even when they posed no threat.

"The majority of victims have been members of racial or ethnic minorities. Many people died, many others have been seriously injured and traumatised."

Trauma for police

The police force image in the eyes of the public is highly vulnerable and it needs only a few rogue police officers bent on beating people up or other actions violating human rights to tarnish the entire force.

Sporadic reports of police abuse and brutality is not new in Malaysia. There have been many illustrated episodes which opened up some corner of the all-too-secretive and insular world of policing and abuses of power to public scrutiny.

From former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's black eye to recent cases involving Chinese nationals. Depending on what is revealed, their inquiries do snowballed into a full blown examination by the media, the public and politicians as exampled by recent incidents.

The range of public complaints against the police include excessive use of physical force, discriminatory patterns of arrest, excessive use of deadly force, harassment of whistle-blowers, verbal abuse, spying on political activists, lack of accountability, money corruption and raids on employment discrimination.

On the other hand, there should be fairness and objectivity in the approach of evaluating the confronting issues. Critics and policy-makers should not conveniently forget that law enforcement is a highly stressful and thankless job. Law enforcement officers continually face the effects of murders, violent assaults, accidents and serious personal injuries.

It is not known how many Malaysian policemen are assaulted each year on the job. In the US, over 70,000 police officers (out of more than 750,000) are assaulted each year - or more than 200 per day. Unlike any other occupation, police officers are expected to die for the community they serve. It is an occupational hazard most (including their family members) have accepted. Most Malaysians do not appreciate the work of the policemen.

Police Trauma Syndrome (PTS), according to an American research study, is currently a major public health problem among the police officers worldwide. Symptoms of this syndrome can develop over time (i.e. 20 years) or acutely after a single catastrophic event and have a physical, emotional, mental and behavioural impact.

Statistics in the US are alarming: high divorce rates, suicide, domestic violence, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, depression, alcoholism and morale problems. All police veterans suffer in varying degrees from the syndrome. Only with education, intervention and support can these devastating effects of police trauma syndrome can hopefully be mitigated.

The government should seriously strengthen the comprehensive psychological services programme (if already made available) for the police force on professional counseling and critical incident debriefing for both police officers (who have used their weapons in the line of duty) and their families. Greater emphasis should be paid on police stress and their families' well being.

Police officers under repeated exposure to violent assaults, murders, rapes, child abuse, natural and manmade disasters a well as on-going personal physical assaults can cause overly aggressive police officers.

It is timely perhaps, in the Malaysian experience to examine how trauma (a Greek word meaning 'to wound' or 'to pierce' plays a role in our police force. Does long-erm exposure to traumatic events have a negative impact upon police officers and their families? What factors cause police brutality? Who should police the police? I leave it to the experts to answer this

Organising strategies

Educating the public maybe a timely and positive move to understand basic enforcement laws related to citizens' rights, arrest and legal representation. Understanding the police department's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) manual containing the official policies of the department.

In the US, the SOP manual is a public document and should be readily available including copies in local libraries.

Local community leaders or members of the Rukun Tetangga or residential associations should also play a pro-active role in bridging greater understanding between residents and their local police stations (easier done in smaller towns than in big cities).

This may include learning knowledge in filing citizen complaints (regarding police conduct) and effectiveness of policing activities in your local area.

Demanding information about police practice is an important part in the establishment of police accountability.

In Malaysia, the role of community organisations in "policing the police" is severely limited, ultimately leaving much of the political process to reforming the police force to political leaders.

STANLEY KOH is attached to the Research and Planning Department of the MCA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.