Eradicating Corruption: The Roles and Initiatives of Royal Malaysia PoliceMr. Azha
In the era of globalization, the scope of policing has widened and Royal Malaysia
Police (RMP) needs a paradigm shift to meet the present and future challenges. While
RMP is approaching 204 years old this year, this institution needs to reinvent and rebrandto stay continuously relevant. Currently (until 30th September 2011) the population of theRMP stands at 110,594 police personnel, with eight departments namely Management
Department, Criminal Investigation Department, Commercial Crime Investigation
Department, Narcotics Crime Investigation Department, Internal Security and Public
Order Department, Special Branch Department, Counter Terrorism Department andLogistics Department.
A key challenge for RMP is to regain the good image that has been seriously
undermined in the last decade due to mounting public perception of corruption and abuseof power, the result which came from the public inquiries conducted by a Royal
Commission in 2004-2005 and submitted its first report on the 15th May 2005. As such,our 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia saw and stressed a few challenges for the RMP toconfront, inter alia:a) To increase people’s confidence in RMP through a change in police mindset
and values, vigorous action against corruption and providing a more caring
and humane service to the community.
b) To enhance the effectiveness of work process through such measures asmodernizing work procedures, restructuring organization and deployment, andreducing bureaucracy.
1- 199 -c) To strengthen the accountability and the sense of responsibility of seniorpolice officers for the performance of their respective departments and units aswell as their subordinates by implementing measures such as leadership byexample, instilling discipline and sensitivity towards the needs and morale ofthe staff.
A second Commission was set up in 2005 to investigate the standard operatingprocedures in relation to body searches after a video clip of a body search of a woman by
the police was released by the media. This brought new issues such as the organizational
ethics and accountability to the forefront. Studies conducted in 2008 found that thebiggest challenge faced by RMP was the issue of integrity. This was based on thestatistics that out of 6,355 disciplinary cases involving police officers between 2002-2008,
93.5% were on issues of integrity while only 6.5% were on competency.
According to research conducted in 2010 by Transparency International(Malaysia) on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and Global Corruption Barometer(GCB) based on the score of (1 – not corrupt,

5- very corrupt), the police force wasperceived as the most corrupted institution by scoring 4.1 compared to other agencies.
May I pick the statement of Tim Newburn (1999: 14) on the corruption issue that
happened in the police force, “what is corrupted is the ‘special trust’ invested in theoccupation”. Therefore, we (RMP) are taking a very serious view and going full strides
forward on the strategies to drive change and evolve our police force according to ourvision to become “A leading enforcement agency of integrity, competent andcommitted in making the nation safe, peaceful and prosperous”.

2- 200 -I. Malaysia’s Government Transformation Programme (GTP) - National Key Result
Areas (NKRAs)
In 2010, the Prime Minister of Malaysia marked the introduction andimplementation of Malaysia’s Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and a newchapter in our young nation’s history. This bold and unprecedented programme was aimed
to radically transform the way the Government worked so we could better serve thepeople. This entire programme is based on the premise of the government’s commitment
to “People First, Performance Now” under the 1Malaysia banner. There are six (6) pillars
or National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) in the GTP based on the people’s most pressing
concerns. These are Reducing Crime, Fighting Corruption, Improving Student
Outcomes, Raising Living Standards of Low-Income Households, Improving Rural Basic
Infrastructure and Improving Urban Public Transport. With the implementation of theinitiatives under the Fighting Corruption NKRA, the government has continued todemonstrate dedication towards eliminating corruption and graft in the nation.
The Fighting Corruption NKRA focuses on three key areas that are most prone
to corruption, which are regulatory and enforcement agencies, government procurement
and grand corruption. Under the Fighting Corruption NKRA for ‘Regulatory andEnforcement Agencies’, RMP is working together with the other four enforcement
agencies –– namely the Malaysia Anti Corruption Commission, Royal Malaysia Customand Excise Department, Road Transport Department and Immigration Department –– andsubsequently came up with five initiatives on fighting corruption in the respectiveagencies;i.

To Strengthen and Empower Compliance Units in Law Enforcement
Agencies –– RMP (Disciplinary Unit under Inspector General Police,
Compliance and Monitoring Unit). This unit will emphasise enforcement
3- 201 -to eradicate corruption abuse of power and compliance of rules andregulations.
ii.

Rotation of Staff in “Hot Jobs” – This involves rotating enforcement
personnel between jobs or workplace (in high-risk areas / jobs) to prevent
them from developing close relationships with and collaborating withcriminal syndicates / organisations and to strengthen good governance andvalues. A list of hot-jobs which have been identified in RMP are the
Criminal Investigation Department –– The Secret Societies / Gambling /Vice Unit, Intelligence Unit and the Police Traffic Department.

iii.

Reduce Bureaucracy / Institutionalise Control Mechanism e.g. ‘1
Reporting’ System – With the integration of ‘Police Reporting System’(PRS-for crime) and ‘Cars Accident Reporting System’ (CARS), everyone
is able to lodge their car accident report in any police station which will
benefit the people by providing more efficient and transparent systemusing the latest ICT Technology by RMP.

iv.

Reduce Discretion Through Automation – To reduce ‘direct contact’ /‘human interaction’ between the people (client) and police officer which isconsidered as one of the initiatives to reduce opportunities for corruption.
Through automation the police can increase the effectiveness of the ‘end
result’ by reducing the time on the service given and service rendered will
be more efficient, accurate and cannot be manipulated, e.g. Narcotics
Information Management System (SPIN), a biometric system mechanism
used by Narcotics Department, RMP to prevent data manipulation to those
who are under the ÂPolice Supervision OrdersÊ (OKP) under the Dangerous
Drugs Act 1952. By using this system, a systematic database will be able
to determine the number of registered OKPs compared to the manual
4- 202 -system which will increase effectiveness in monitoring them and prevent
any malpractice by any police personnel on this issue.
v.

Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) 2010 – to encourage our informers
or officers to break the ‘blue code of silence’ against fellow officers whoare involved in corrupt practices, criminal acts or other misconduct. Under
this act, the public are also encouraged to inform the relevant authorities ofany form of misused power/misconduct by police personnel. The Act also
provides immunity to informers from civil or criminal charges.

Apart from the five initiatives above, the RMP also came forward with a few more
additional initiatives, i.e. rewarding police officers when rejecting bribes. The rewards
could be monetary or a letter of commendation. RMP has shown very impressive resultswith the highest statistics of 160 cases for the year 2009 until September 2011. Theawareness among enforcement officers to reject bribes can be seen from the Malaysia
Anti Corruption Commission’s statistics, i.e. from the total arrest of 944 bribe offenders
in 2010. Arrests of those who gave bribes last year were 414 persons (43.8%) compared
to only 108 in 2009, making it the highest number in history.
The quarterly publication of ‘Integrity Bulletin’ containing advice and measurestaken in upholding integrity in the police force is another continuous campaign toeradicate corruption and abuse of power in the RMP. Initiating the Anti Corruption Poster
is part of our campaign to promote and enhance the value of integrity among police
personnel and the public. These additional initiatives will increase the public awarenessand they will be more informed on the dangers of giving and receiving bribes. In order tostay relevant, RMP has little choice but to work hard on enhancing the integrity not onlyof its human capital but also in its work culture and policing procedures.

5- 203 -II. Inspector General Police Secretariat (Disciplinary Department) of Royal
Malaysia PoliceSince 1976, RMP had practiced a system of ‘check and balance’ in order tomaintain a fair, transparent and full compliance with rules and regulations when carryingout their duties in uniform. This unit, then known as the Disciplinary Unit waspermanently reformed as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Secretariat (DisciplinaryDepartment) by virtue of IGP Standing Orders KPN 87/8 dated 25th March 2004 and put
in direct command of the Inspector General of Police with a specific role to discipline thePolice Force which includes investigation of violations and subsequent action against
defaulters.
The reformation of IGP Secretariat (Disciplinary Department) under direct orders
from the Inspector General of Police shows that RMP gives priority to discipline andintegrity in order to achieve its vision and mission. The objective of this secretariat is tostrengthen police integrity towards a fair, efficient and effective police service.

III. The Role of Inspector General Police Secretariat (Disciplinary Department) ofRoyal Malaysia Police
This division is headed by the Deputy Head of the IGP Secretariat (DisciplinaryDepartment) and has a wide framework supported by a strong team of legally qualified
and experienced officers to ensure compliance with laws, procedures and best practices
by the police personnel. This division consists of the following:a) The Implementation and Enforcement Unit
To carry out inspection on all the police units to ensure compliance with rules andregulations and subsequent remedial action or disciplinary proceedings. Within
6- 204 -this unit is also the Operations cell which carries out special operations based on
information of corruption, abuse of power or authority or any other dereliction ofduty. This unit also works in tandem with the Narcotics Department in random
testing of police officers for suspected drug abuse to deter officers from living
unacceptable lifestyles, which will likely to lead to corruption, criminal behavior
or unethical behavior as police personnel.

b) Inspection / Monitoring “Drugs and Disciplinary Control System”
This system, which has been in place since the 1980s for the rank and filepersonnel, has been extended to include senior officers up to Superintendent. Thisis a close control system whereby every officer is put in charge and supervises a
few subordinates. Supervision in this respect is not limited to on-duty hours but
encompassing off-duty hours including lifestyle, friends, family, property anddrug abuse.

c) The Investigation Unit
This Unit is responsible for carrying out internal investigations which are based on
two factors;i.

Complaints
Investigations are based on complaints made by the public or bypolice personnel themselves, either by letters, walk-ins, telephone,through the Government Public Complaints Bureau (BPA) or any
other sources such as emails, faxes and texting.

ii.

Internal Misconduct

7- 205 -Investigation based on internal misconduct and dereliction of duty.
All investigations are conducted without fear or favour.
Investigation is also carried out at the contingent/state level where
the final action is determined either by the State Chief PoliceOfficers. Cases of interest are investigated and dealt with at theFederal level, and final decisions are made by either the Deputy
Inspector General or Inspector General Police.

d) The Intelligence Unit
This unit provides intelligence and technical support for the Operations andInvestigations Unit.

e) Complaints Unit
The Complaints Unit’s primary function is to attend to and receive complaints andinformation from the public or by police officers. All complaints and information
are treated in strict confidence. All follow up actions are commenced without
jeopardizing the identity of the complainant.

f) Declaration of Assets Unit
This Unit is solely responsible for the management, investigation and recording ofdeclarations of assets of all Police Officers. Under the Public Officers (Conductand Discipline) Regulations 1993, all civil servants are required to declare theirassets (on joining the service, procurement, disposal and when otherwise required).
RMP has made this process more stringent including by having a dedicated unit tomonitor all asset declarations and conduct investigations. RMP officers must make8- 206 -full disclosures when making declarations unlike other civil servants who only
need to make a basic declaration.
RMP will continue to strengthen its efforts towards more serious and effective
measures, with greater intensity and focus in driving out corrupt practices in the policeforce. Society’s expectation of RMP is very high indeed. They not only want a competentpolice force but expect police officers to be of high integrity. Police actions willwithstand scrutiny of the public if decisions are made with integrity, for the sake of peaceand security alone and nothing else. Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern policing inEngland had said:“The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public
approval of police actions…”
No police organisation, regardless of its past glory or history, can claim success without
the support, cooperation and understanding from members of the public and community.
RMP still has much work to do in its fight against corruption to regain public confidence
and trust. There is no “one size fits all solution”. We must change and keep on developing“new formula and medicine” to fight “corruption’s disease” so as to change people’s
negative perception towards RMP. Though it is not an overnight job, we strongly believewith the Government’s will, commitment and support in the form of a zero-tolerance
policy towards corruption (political will), sharing and integrating the value of integrity
among all my fellow officers, we are on the right track towards a clean, transparent, fair
and trustworthy law enforcement agency for the people. Thank you.

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