The Malaysian police force is not greatly understaffed as compared to other countries as argued by Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said that Abdullah was wrong to claim that the police officer to population ratio is 1:3000.

Abdullah, who is also home minister, told reporters last Saturday that the country planned to hire 23,000 officers over the next two years to beef up the police force as the current police to population ratio is high compared to the 1:300 in many developed countries.