KUALA LUMPUR: Former Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has questioned police reaction to a complaint filed by a newsman on the rude conduct of a Subang Jaya police patrol unit which had confronted him in front of his house.
Zaid said it was bizarre that the Subang Jaya police were investigating the complainant instead of probing a complaint from the public.
"The complaint has now apparently become the subject of a police investigation....for insulting the police. This is bizarre.
"Does one commit an offence by complaining about the conduct of a policeman? Is describing a police officer as rude a criminal offence?
"Does the police know that their responsibility is to protect the public?," he said in his latest Facebook posting.
Zaid said it should be standard procedure for the police to first investigate a complaint from the public.
However, he said police seemed to be more keen to investigate the complainant for what it calls insulting the police.
"This has never happened before...does our Home Minister in charge of the police know of this incident?
"He needs to clarify why this conduct of the police is justified," Zaid posted.
Zaid was referring to a statement by Subang Jaya police chief Assistant Commissioner Wan Azlan Wan Mamat who was quoted as saying that an investigation had been initiated against a news anchor who complained about the rude conduct of a policeman on patrol.
Wan Azlan said this after refuting the complainant's claims that the patrolmen who engaged him were rude, arrogant and unprofessional during an inspection at a residential area in USJ9, Subang Jaya on March 13.
He defended the two policemen by stating that they had performed their duties according to the police guidelines.
It was reported that the news presenters had highlighted the matter via a letter-to-the-editor that was published in the New Straits Times.
Wan Azlan added that the policemen involved had lodged separate reports as they felt that the claims made against them were not true and the allegation had affected the image of the country's police force, especially Subang Jaya police.
He added the case was being investigated under Section 504 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Police, he said, called on people to be more vigilant and provide full cooperation to the police in an effort to eradicate crime.
In the letter, the television presenter said that the incident took place last Tuesday when he was returning home after completing his midnight news programme.
One of the two policemen patrolling his residential area in Subang Jaya, he said, displayed unprofessional behaviour and was rude and arrogant during the inspection.
