Brickfields police have stepped up crime prevention patrols in view of the coming festive season and to allay fears of crime.

Brickfields OCPD Abdul Wan Bari Wan Abdul Khalid leading Ops Tawan bangsar village 4 Dubbed Ops Tawan , Brickfields OCPD Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid ( right ) led some 90 officers to patrol Bangsar Baru’s commercial district centred on the Bangsar Village shopping mall at about 2.30pm today.

“Before Raya, payday will be early. Normally we would focus on shopping complex, bus stops, bus stands, taxi stands... You’ve got to adapt to the environment, the situation and the timing,” he said.

The operation, which had started since the beginning of Ramadan, would also cover Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Sri Hartamas, but Wan Abdul Bari said the police would shift its policing strategy based on reports received as time goes by.

Thus far, he said, there has not been a single police report on street crime in his police district in the past 48 hours.

When asked, he also added that there had been no change in the degree of violence or modus operandi used to commit the crimes over the past few years.

Brickfields OCPD Abdul Wan Bari Wan Abdul Khalid leading Ops Tawan bangsar village 3 In addition to officers based at the Brickfields police district, the patrols also involved personnel attached to Bukit Aman police headquarters, and the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU), the latter more commonly known for their role in riot suppression.

The patrols move in groups of four with at least one local police officer, and are also required to meet-and-greet shoppers in order to ‘make their presence felt’, and not merely be seen.

The OCPD added that the patrol cars would also check on shopping mall car parks from time to time.

During his walk on the streets around the small but upscale shopping mall, Wan Abdul Bari also took the opportunity to ask the weekend shoppers on how safe they feel and their feedback on the high-visibility patrols.

‘Bangsar is safe’

The shoppers either replied that they felt that Bangsar is safe, or they had mixed feelings about safety. Regardless, all three pedestrians polled gave their thumbs-up for the increased police presence.

Brickfields OCPD Abdul Wan Bari Wan Abdul Khalid leading Ops Tawan bangsar village 5 Although the police had insisted that the crime rate has been dropping since 2008, a spate of high-profile robberies and attacks in shopping mall carparks have led some to question the official figures.

Others, such as Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong, argued that the police force had been poorly utilised to combat crime, with only nine percent of the force tasked with crime prevention, compared to 41 percent in the Special Branch, and 31 percent handling internal security and public order.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had previously dismissed the accusations that the crime rate had increased as merely a matter of perception , although he has pledged to address the matter.

In addition to Ops Tawan , the police have since been seen serenading shoppers and handing out goodie bags at a mall, or sporting jackets fitted with flashing blue lights at night.