KUALA LUMPUR: There is no denying that the credibility of the police is being questioned every day. Corruption is not only rampant among the people but members of the police force are also involved. And this is nothing new.

It is only recently that it is visible to the public when there are arrests that exposed police involvement in criminal activities.

While the people generally see this as a positive development in the new era under the leadership of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador, there are also those who are not happy with it.

However, Abdul Hamid is not alone. His determination and courage to expose crimes involving the police was backed by officers and members who remained loyal to serve in the name of truth, among them Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.

“We see many criticising Tan Sri Abdul Hamid, but if you look at him from then until now, how he brought up the 1MDB issue until he was dismissed, and he came back.

“He had better go gardening and so on, but he came back (into the police force). In terms of integrity and sincerity, no one can dispute Tan Sri Abdul Hamid,” said Ayob in an Agenda AWANI interview hosted by Nazri Kahar last night.

The firmness of the new Johor Police Chief is well-respected, what with his long experience navigating the anti-terrorism branch made it hard and difficult to challenge his stance in carrying out his duties.

In that regard, he saw the vision and mission that he carried was in line with what was brought by the IGP.

And Ayob was determined to pursue that common noble desire in leading the contingent in the south of the country.

"That (actually) is not my vision and Tan Sri Abdul Hamid's. This is the vision of the government, this is the vision of the Home Ministry, this is the vision of the Prime Minister, this is the vision of the country.

"We have to correct, we have to start taking firm action to ensure that those who lack integrity, involved in corruption, are taken firm action no matter what their rank," he said.

Ayob Khan acknowledged many were unhappy, with many of them saying the internal problems of the police should be resolved in private and should not be disclosed to the general public.

But Ayob Khan said, that's what makes the problem unresolved to this day.

"The people are not stupid, everyone already knows. But until when do we want to leave it like that?

“When the day comes when the police can no longer be trusted, to whom do the people want to put their hopes on to keep the country in order?" he asked.

Ayob Khan said the police can no longer continue to be rhetorical with words to fight for the nation, religion and country while they are still plagued by integrity issues.

In restoring the credibility of the police, he added, all members of the force must be brave enough to face the ‘devil’ within them to be eliminated.

“I hold dearly to the belief, we as Muslims, how long will we live? We will die, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, or maybe in the next minute.

“With so much money, where do you want to go? You can’t possibly use the money as a lining for our corpse in the grave? Or want to bribe the angels Munkar and Nakir? No," he said.

Hence, this issue of corruption and integrity needs to be addressed with consistency and firmness.

He no longer wants people to smirk when talking about the police, and he is confident that the dignity of the police will be restored under Abdul Hamid's leadership.

“God willing. Tan Sri IGP has put it on track, we just want to make sure we don't slip,” he said.