Police force targets zero corruption

The Royal Malaysian Police, aiming to achieve zero-corruption status, today took the Anti-Corruption Pledge (IBR) before Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar led the taking of the oath along with 200 other policemen at a ceremony at Dewan Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar at the Police Training Centre (Pulapol) in Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra here.

Also present were the Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Alwi Ibrahim and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad.

After the oath-taking ceremony, Ahmad Zahid witnessed the signing of an IBR document by Abdul Khalid and Dzulkifli.

At a news conference later, Abdul Khalid said the IBR was the commitment of the police force to tackle corruption among police personnel and act against those involved in corruption.

"The police force has set a zero-corruption target for its members and various measures will be taken to achieve this objective.

I admit that there is corruption among members of the force, so the prevention of corruption should start from the sincerity of the police personnel themselves to reject corruption," he said.

He said the police force, through the Bukit Aman Integrity and Standards Compliance Department, would play a role in ensuring that every police officer and member maintained the highest level of integrity and several measures had been taken by the department to monitor corruption in the force.

The police force is the first enforcement agency to undertake the pledge. The pledge-taking was carried out simultaneously at all the state police headquarters.

In Johor Bahru, about 10,000 officers, staff and personnel took the pledge at 13 district police headquarters.

At the Johor police headquarters, the pledge-taking was led by Johor Deputy Police Chief Datuk Kamarudin Md Din with the participation of 370 officers, staff and personnel.

The ceremony began with the reading out of the message from the Inspector-General of Police and the MACC Chief Commissioner.

The signed zero-corruption document was handed over to Johor MACC director Datuk Azmi Alias.

In Kota Kinabalu, 3,435 Sabah police officers and personnel took the pledge.

Sabah Police deputy commissioner Datuk Razarudin Husain alias Abd Rasid said the number included officers and staff in all 20 district police headquarters in the state.

He said the pledge was a guarantee to stakeholders and clients and an acknowledgment of the commitment to combat corruption and abuse of power.

In Alor Setar, about 600 policemen at the Kedah Police headquarters and around Alor Setar took the pledge.

Kedah Police deputy chief DCP Sahabudin Abdul Manan led the IBR before signing an IBR document witnessed by Kedah MACC director Datuk Mohd Fauzi Mohammad.

Sahabudin said the IBR ceremony was also held at all the district police headquarters statewide, involving about 5,000 policemen.

In Kangar, 500 officers and men of the Perlis Police headquarters took the pledge at the senior officer's mess with the aim of avoiding corruption and power abuse.

Deputy police chief, ACP Noor Mushar Muhammad, led the pledge which was also participated by policemen, Malaysia Border Security Agency (AKSEM) and General Operations Force (PGA) personnel, witnessed by Perlis MACC director, Yaacob Angah.

The oath-taking was also held at the Padang Besar and Arau headquarters involving 1,800 policemen, AKSEM and PGA personnel, witnessed by Perlis MACC officials, said Noor Mushar when met by reporters.

He said the police force would continue to cooperate with MACC to combat corruption so that it would became a superior organisation with integrity.

-- BERNAMA