Govt to assist PDRM to ensure public safety -PEMANDU

In light of the recent spate of high-profile crime, and talk on the introduction of new legislation, the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) Chief Executive Officer Yang Berhormat Senator Datuk Seri Idris Jala has released the following statement:

YAB Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak recently declared a clear intent to assist the Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM) to ensure and assure public safety. This is in the wake of recent shootings.

It was announced that a new legislation introduced will strengthen the capability of the police to act against serious and organised crime. YAB Dato Sri’ Najib has further insisted that immediate and serious action will be taken by the authorities to bring back public peace and confidence.

There is clear intent in the seriousness of the Government to tackle problems of violent and organised crime, both in the immediate and medium term.

Whilst we are working within the existing laws to fight organised and violent crime, the Prime Minister and the cabinet have agreed that we will also work in parallel to explore the possibility of introducing effective legislation to help us in our fight against organised and violent crime. In this work, the Attorney General Chambers will play a key role in advising and drafting any suitable legislation for this purpose.

At this point, it is too early to provide any further exposition but safe to say that a joint task force comprising the Home Minister, the Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General, is assessing the specifics and options on how to ensure sufficient empowerment to law enforcement while ensuring necessary check-and-balances.

Taking into account that the process of introducing any new legislation can take up to 6 months in the best case scenario, we will also put in place immediate term measures to enhance and accelerate measures utilising existing laws and provisions to curb violent and organised crime activities, as follows:

1. The Prevention of Crime Act (‘PCA’) 1959, is an existing Act that allows law enforcement authorities to investigate, register and monitor organised crime and repeat offenders. The joint task force will strengthen the capabilities of all relevant parties, including PDRM, AGC and The Courts, to put known and repeat offenders of violent and organised crime under supervision.

2. The Criminal Procedure Code (‘CPC’) has a new provision that allows interception of communications to enhance the capabilities of law enforcement officers to compile evidence against organised and violent crime offenders.

3. Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (‘SOSMA’) 2012 and the CPC allows the use of Electronic Monitoring Devices (EMD) to monitor the whereabouts of offenders released on bail to ensure that they are not committing another crime. Other countries such as the UK and the US have been making use of the EMDs making use of the EMDs for quite some time, and they have seen a declining rate of recidivism.