Hj Rahman, a former Special Branch officer who retired more than a decade ago, was clearly distressed when he met me last Tuesday.
He had been reading media reports of rogue cops in the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) in recent months and hoped that the leadership in Bukit Aman would be given time and space to clean up the police force as it deemed fit.
I told him that in any barrel full of apples, some are bound to be rotten. The correct thing to do is to throw them away before they infect or contaminate the others. He agreed that cleaning up the police force is top priority.
I told him that he should not be worried. Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador and Johor police chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay have been doing a superb job. Let us hope there will be no interference from any quarters.
On April 2, Gerakan vice-president Baljit Singh urged the government to extend Hamid's contract of service (which expires on May 3) by one or two more years "to give him time to clean up the force".
Baljit said that Hamid needed more time to rid the force of corruption and to resolve the "cartel" issue within the force. The Gerakan leader was referring to Hamid's earlier revelation that a group of younger police officers had formed a "cartel" to dominate the force and to topple him.
For DAP leader Lim Guan Eng, Hamid's shocking revelation requires the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), as the cartel issue is no longer "an internal matter" and should not be dealt with internally by the Police Force Commission (PFC).
Lim added that only a RCI could clean up the police force and "salvage the reputation of the majority of police officers who are not involved in such nefarious activities".
Former IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan was quoted by a Malay language daily as saying that under his watch as IGP, he had tried to take action against the errant officers but to no avail. His contract of service came to an end before he could clean up the force.
Back in mid-November last year, Hamid was quoted as say-ing that he would transfer out some officers from three departments on suspicion that they were working with criminal syndicates.
These departments are the vice, gambling, and secret societies division (D7), the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID). Hamid also revealed that 34 senior police officers were transferred on Oct 26 to other parts of the country on concerns that they were collaborating with criminal elements.
On Oct 7, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had arrested 10 individuals, including eight senior police officers, and seized RM100,000 in cash following investigations into illegal gambling activities and the Macau Scam.
The eight officers held high positions in the force (assistant commissioner, deputy superintendent, assistant superintendents), serving at Bukit Aman and Selangor police contingent.
Ayob Khan told the media recently that four members of the Johor police force were arrested for extortion. He said that the four officers had been carrying out criminal activities for some time.
He also said that eight members of the police force had been sacked from January to April 14 this year, with 12 more officers to face similar action in the immediate future.
The latest news is that all police officers suspected to be in cahoots with fugitive Datuk Seri Nicky Liow Soon Hee and involved in organised crime will be hauled up to face charges in court. According to a news report last March, the fugitive had at least 34 law enforcement agency personnel under his "payroll".
We wish these two leading crime fighters success in cleaning up the force and busting organised crime.
The writer, a former federal counsel at the Attorney-General's Chambers, is deputy chairman of the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War
