The duties of an officer are the safety, honour and welfare of your country first; the honour, welfare and comfort of the men in your command second; and the officer's own ease, comfort and safety last.

– George S Patton

COMMENT | One of the more interesting aspects of the movement control order (MCO) is that the average rakyat has had more interactions with the state security apparatus, specifically the PDRM. This is funny, of course, because if people were seriously following the MCO, they would not be interacting with the police.

While the press and social media highlight the negative encounters between the citizenry and the police, anecdotally speaking, I believe for the most part the experience has been positive. Public relations officers of the PDRM tell me that when they make an “arrest”, they are merely following their standard operating procedure (SOP) and while they understand that some folks will be upset, they are always mindful of the way it plays out in social media.

Another very senior police officer asked me to relay the message to readers to separate their politics from how they view police action at this time. He is very well aware that a certain segment of the population does not trust the PDRM and the words of politicians and some police officers have made it worse. Howdever, he said, the police force just wants to ensure the safety of everyone.

He said that every day he is worried that a news story breaks showing the PDRM in a bad light or people behaving badly with the police. In both situations, political parties and their supporters cause more problems for the police...