Shop robberies attributed to unemployment - MCPF VC

The vice-chairman of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF), Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said this was due to the presence of too many immigrants in the country to the extent that some did not have any source of income, thus forcing them to resort to such criminal activity.

"Poverty and the economic crisis also drive them to commit the crime...at times the people committing the crime had previously been involved with criminal syndicates indulging in robbery," he said when contacted by Bernama recently.

Lee made the comment after police detained four men in two separate locations, namely Bandar Baru Selayang and Bandar Sri Permaisuri on July 24 on suspicion of being involved in gang robbery at a 24-hour convenience store at Jalan Delima 13, Wangsa Maju here on July 14.

Subsequently, he suggested that operators of such convenience stores hold discussions with the police on ways of preventing such crime.

"The police should also intensify night patrols in areas that are crime prone," he said.