Statistics to prove police aren't trigger-happy

The police today produced statistics in an effort to counter allegations that suspected criminals were being gunned down arbitrarily.

Federal CID deputy director Deputy Comm Datuk Mazlan Mansor insisted that the priority is always to arrest suspects first.

He said between Jan 2011 and Sept 2013, 213 armed criminals were arrested without a shootout as opposed to the 94 criminals shot dead when they attacked the police.

“Based on the large numbers of arrests made even when these criminals are armed, it proves that police adhere to the standard operating procedure (SOP) and do not shoot to kill as we like… we strive to make arrests instead,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mazlan said there were 573 firearms confiscated during the said time frame.

Among the weapons seized were 212 semi-automatic pistols, 80 revolvers, 10 rifles, 15 grenades, 71 air guns, 14 pump guns and one sub-machinegun, he said.

He said the weapons most likely came from neighbouring countries and did not include the missing guns as highlighted in the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report.

Mazlan also revealed that the crime index has dropped by 7.4 per cent after about two month of ‘Ops Cantas’.

“We managed to reduce some 2,260 cases which include rioting involving gangs, extortion as well as serious crimes.

“We’ve also identified several gang leaders but investigations are still ongoing,” he said.

To a questioned asked, Mazlan said Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president N. Surendran has not signed the indemnity documents which would enabled him to follow the police on armed operations.

“It is not finalised yet," he said.