YOURSAY 'Former IGP Abdul Rahim has just admitted the police can't investigate and gather enough evidence to deter crimes.'

Ex-IGP: AG wrong, we need preventive detention

your say Malaysian Born: And we are to agree to this coming from former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Noor, a man whose version of due process and good policing includes taking a political leader into a room, handcuffing him, putting a hood over his head, beating him senseless, and then lying to the whole country about it?

There is no excuse for a preventive detention law since we know that it has been and will be routinely abused. More importantly, it will be used in place of good investigatory work rendering the police force ineffective when actual proof is required in court.

We can either have good systems, rules and enforcement or you can have a circus.

The British wanted preventive laws in Malaysia in the colonial days because they felt Asians did not deserve the same due process and protection as Europeans and there was no British Parliament to object to the unfair legislation.

They were wrong then and this is wrong now.

R1: Abdul Rahim has just admitted that the police can't investigate and gather enough evidence to deter crimes, which is why there is a need for preventive detention. It is this kind of thinking which makes crimes soar in this country.

Oscar Kilo: Why are the police impotent against gangsters? Is it because they and the gangsters are in cahoots with one another?

Senior: The men in blue can't do their job. So they need preventive detention where the presumption that one may be committing a crime is sufficient. So their job is easier.

But this power can be easily abused. Given their dismal record in investigations and detective skills, I would be against it.

Jesse: The old laws have contributed to the current malady in the police force. They rely on such harsh laws instead of honing their investigative skills. Their incompetence is their own making, and contributed largely by an inept government.

It is about time they now put more effort into training, appoint smart cops on the basis of ability rather than race.

Bringing back detention power will further erode competence and produce in its place more abuse and incompetence, and worst leaders like the IGP who cannot see beyond his nose.

Dzulkefly Ahmad: Emergency Ordinance (EO) is a good law if it is not abused. But if it is used to detain political foes of Umno and BN, then it is terribly wrong.

Malaysia For Malaysians: I support preventive detention. If it is in place, crime rates will automatically come down and a lot of money will not be wasted on gated communities.

Rojak: I'm alarmed at how many commenters say they would support EO if only the police were more professional. Isn't it precisely because they aren't professional enough that they want EO?

If the police are the only ones who fully understand the modus operandi of gangsters, as Abdul Rahim argues, then they are the ones best able to curb gangsterism, without needing to resort to indefinite detention of people who have not been charged - a measure used only in times of emergency and terrorism.

If evidence of gangsters extorting and robbing or merely conspiring to extort and rob has been gathered then arrests can be made under the normal procedures of common law and statute, so just how are the police's hands tied?

And if they cannot gather adequate evidence how is anyone to know that the people detained under an EO are the real criminals?

Pemerhati: ‘Tyson' Abdul Rahim, by punching a blindfolded Anwar Ibrahim almost to death, clearly proves that he does not believe in using civilised and proper methods in carrying out police work.

He should ask himself and investigate why is it that our neighbour, Singapore, does not have the EO type of draconian laws and yet there is very little crime there.

He will find that some of the possible reasons are that in Singapore, unlike in Malaysia, the main criterion for selection into the police force is not race and religion, but merit.

In Singapore, unlike in Malaysia, there is very little corruption and there is very close supervision of police personnel to make sure they really do their work.

When Singapore and Malaysia were together for a short while, some police officers from Singapore came over to Malaysia and commented that working in the police force in Malaysia was akin to having a picnic.

Din: Abdul Rahim, just admit that the Malaysian police aren't good enough at investigating.

If the department is capable, it would be able to link a crime to the perpetrator or perpetrators and arrest and charge them.

On the other hand, it may be capable, but perhaps money has made it incapable?

Wira: Do we need laws to let the police exact summary executions on detained suspects? Are the police not capable of abusing the powers given to them for preventive detention?

Who is policing the police today? The police themselves? Who will stop an IGP like Abdul Rahim to give another detainee a black eye?

Moreover, according to government statistics, the crime rate is dropping since the repeal of the Emergency Ordinance.

Are you telling us that the PM, his cousin former home minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Pemandu chief Idris Jala and the previous IGP are all liars?

FairMind: Abdul Rahim, you are dead wrong. Giving a black eye to extort a confession isn't the only method. You belonged to the old school.

With the advancement of forensic science and technology, there are indeed other ways to investigate a case.

If the police can take the easy route under the EO then there is no incentive for the police to learn new and more modern ways to catch criminals.

Hello: If the police do their job properly, instead of getting involved in political work for Umno, then there would be no need of preventive detention.

Nowadays we have much of the CID (Criminal Investigation Department), Special Branch, MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) and Attorney-General's Chambers deployed to work on Umno's agenda against the opposition and those against Umno.

If they were pulled back to do their actual jobs, Malaysia would be more just and peaceful.

Dudeno: Someone should have put Abdul Rahim in preventive detention before he gave Anwar a black eye. Since Anwar was beaten while the EO was in place, it showed the law didn't work to stop gangsterism.

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