Cops give break-in victim the runaround for wearing shorts - report

The police have reportedly given the victim of a car break-in the runaround for turning up in shorts when lodging a police report.

According to China Press, 34-year-old Shim was dining at a hawker centre in Bukit Tambun, Penang, with his family last night, but found their car window was broken upon returning to it.

Among the stolen items were RM800 in cash and his wife’s passport.

The wife is reportedly a China national, and Shim said replacing the passport would require a trip to Kuala Lumpur and a troublesome procedure.

“I immediately went to report the incident at the Simpang Ampat police station. The sentry outside enquired with the police officers inside and told me to lodge the report at the Tambun police station instead.

“I asked the sentry whether I could lodge the report here since I was already outside the police station, and the sentry told me to go home and change into long pants first.

“I understand that one must wear long pants at the police station, but I was wearing shorts to go eat out. When I had an emergency, I came rushing to the police station to lodge a police report.

“Is an emergency the right time to be telling someone to go home and change into long pants, so they could lodge a police report?” Shim reportedly told China Press.

He also lamented about his treatment in a Facebook group, saying, “It’s as though people have nothing better to do than to go to police stations for fun.”

Lodged report at Tambun

According to the media report, Shim returned to the scene of the crime with his family after being refused entry at the Simpang Ampat police station, to search the nearby shrubs in hopes that the thief left the passport there.

“Fortunately, a Tambun police personnel on patrol saw my child (searching in the shrubs), and after finding out what happened, told me to lodge a report at the Tambun police station immediately,” he said.

He was still wearing the same pair of shorts but was allowed to lodge the report without trouble. Instead, the police personnel at the counter asked why he lodged the report so late.

“I asked the police at the Tambun police station, can I not lodge a police report if I’m wearing shorts? He said, the regulations say ‘no’, but it can be accommodated in the event of an emergency,” Shim was quoted as saying.

He said he is grateful to the officers at the Tambun police station for their understanding.

The dress code at government premises has been a perennial issue, especially when victims of crime or other misfortune, or their accompanying kin, seek help at police stations and government hospitals.

In February, then inspector-general of police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said some leniency in the dress code is allowed, but this is only limited to “life and death” situations.

Beraus MP Ngeh Koo Ham argued in Parliament in March that the overzealous enforcement of the dress code goes against a government circular issued on Dec 1, 2020.

He said Item 2.5 of the circular states that Putrajaya does not intend to impose a “standard” dress code and instead urged government agencies to clearly state that clients had to be dressed “dengan sopan dan bersesuaian” (modestly and appropriately).

Item 2.7, meanwhile, states government heads would be allowed to use their discretion in determining what was “sopan dan bersesuaian” to ensure clients are served “tanpa sebarang diskriminasi” (without any form of discrimination).

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