The Royal Malaysian Police force has come a long way since political independence. For a number of years, some units of the force were utilised to combat communism.

With the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the Malayan Communist Party in 1989, units used to fight the communists were integrated within the regular police force for the purpose of maintaining law and order in the country.

In comparison to 20 years ago, the police force today is better educated. But beyond this, the police force is also grappling with a number of problems that stand in the way of its professional development.

Political manipulation, pro-government bias, use of excessive force, double-standards in the enforcement of law, methodological inconsistencies and others continue to haunt the police force in its discharge of its duties.

The Malaysian public, being more educated and conscious of their rights and responsibilities, look up to the police force as well to other government agencies to discharge their duties in a professional manner.

Dumb-struck

However, government agencies in the country have not met their expectations. The police, despite professional conduct in some instances, have failed to convince ordinary Malaysians that they are fair and responsible.

More than this, there is growing feeling among ordinary Malaysians that the police could be manipulated and made use of by some unscrupulous politicians trying to advance their own political agendas. The assault of the former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim is a classic case in which police professionalism and code of conduct took a major dip.

One really wonders whether the police force as a whole has emerged clean and respectable following this incident. Perhaps it would take many more years for the police image to be fully restored as result of this major incident that left many Malaysians dumb-struck.

Apart from the above incident, instances of police brutality against common people seems to be on the rise. In the last five years or so, the mass media has reported many cases in which police dealt brutally with suspected criminals. A number of suspected criminal, robbers, kidnappers have been shot dead by the police.

No attempts were made by the police to apprehend these criminal first. In one case, a pregnant woman with others was shot dead in a house on the grounds of their suspected involvement in a kidnap case. The police shot these persons without even verifying whether they were the actual kidnappers or not.

There have been other instances in which persons were shot on the grounds of the slightest suspicion. In fact, many of these persons shot were Indians, a development that has infuriated the Indian community.

Sluggish and feeble

Malaysian police have demonstrated time and again that they are not above politics. When it comes to responding to demonstrations organised by opposition and others, they are harsh and brutal. Recent demonstrations illustrate a tendency on the part of the police to use extreme actions even though these demonstrations did not display any offensive actions.

But at the same time, the police have not responded in the same manner to demonstrations organised by groups that are sympathetic to the government or Umno. Thus, given this double-standard in the enforcement of the law, the police cannot expect too much cooperation from the public.

However, in some situations where swift and firm action is necessary, the police have responded very sluggishly and feebly. In the recent racial flare-up in the Petaling Jaya Selatan squatter housing area, it was the partly the problem of the lack of effective response on the part of the police that resulted in the unfortunate death of a few and injuries to some.

Although the situation has been brought under control, there are still isolated incidents of assault being perpetrated by some vigilante groups. Who are behind these vigilantes is not known yet, but one gets a strange feeling that political interests could be involved. The police are aware of these isolated incidents of assault but have not imposed a curfew in the area.

Professional ethics

In Malaysia, the effectiveness of the police will depend on a number of things. Firstly, the police force take steps to bring in more non-Malays so that a more ethnically-balanced force can take shape.

Secondly, politicians, especially those clinging on to political power, should not tarnish the image of the police force by utilising it for their own survival purposes.

Thirdly, the police should adopt a more objective stand and respect the right of Malaysians to engage in peaceful demonstrations. Fourthly, professional ethics should be imbued in the police force so that its personnel cease from using unnecessary criminal force on suspects and others.

P RAMASAMY is a professor of political economy at the Political Science Department, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and has academic interests in Malaysian politics and labour. He has written quite extensively and is currently focusing on conflict management in Sri Lanka.