Thanks to the power and speed of the Internet, the Bar Council-initiated petition to the government for a better police force has registered over 750 e-signatures in just four days.

The online version of the public endorsement had registered more than 755 e-signatures as at this afternoon.

Council chairperson Yeo Yang Poh said the first batch of the hard copy of the public endorsement was sent out yesterday to organisations and individuals.

"It will take time for these to be returned but the electronic version is already accessible via a link placed prominently on the Bar website.

"It is open to all, not just lawyers, and we are seeking both individual and organisational support," he said when contacted today.

The nationwide campaign launched Friday is timed to counter the growing resistance to the proposed body by the top brass in the police force and some Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers.

Contentious recommendation

The proposal for a Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) is the most contentious of the 125 recommendations made by a Royal commission of inquiry last year.

The commission had stipulated May 31 as the deadline for implementation.

Advocates of the IPCMC are hoping that the draft law will be passed by May 11 when the current parliamentary meeting is scheduled to end.

Considered the "most crucial" recommendation, the IPCMC has been the subject of intense public debate following reported allegations of police abuse and assault in recent years.

But the police and a number of backbenchers have openly objected to Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's decision to set up the body in light of mounting criticism against the police.

Open objections

Detractors claim the IPCMC will further demoralise and discriminate against police personnel, and that it overlaps with existing human rights watchdog and public complaints mechanisms.

At the launch, Yeo said the fact that two commissions of inquiry have repeated the need for an independent police watchdog spoke "volumes of its importance" of institutional reform.

"An IPCMC is an essential part of the much-needed reform," he said.

Insisting on a reduced reliance on the existing internal mechanism, he said the old way of checking abuse was a method proven to be "both unreliable and ineffective, not to mention non-transparent and ill-accountable".

He also decried the opposition within the police force and open attempts to lobby the parliamentarians against the IPCMC.

On Saturday, Gerakan president Dr Lim Keng Yaik reiterated the BN component party's backing of the proposed establishment of the IPCMC.