The Malaysian Insight

IT took 13 years for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to be established as there was much resistance from the police, said Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

“They were not comfortable. The reason why it was not enforced before was because there were strong objections from the police.

“They thought it was not fair to single out the police and action be taken against them simply because people thought they were not clean,” said Muhyiddin, adding that this was a wrong perception.

Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu president, said details of the commission will be presented to the cabinet soon.

“IPCMC is going to be a commission. There’s going to be a specific law. This will be brought to cabinet very soon,” he said, adding that at the ministry level, they were in the last stages of preparing for the implementation.

The Malaysian Insight reported last week that the police were hesitant about forming the IPCMC despite the idea being mooted 13-years ago.

Whether the IPCMC would have prosecution powers to charge, Muhyiddin said the details will be in the bill that will be tabled in Parliament.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had announced the IPCMC will replace the “watered down” Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), which was established by the previous Barisan Nasional administration as a compromise with the police.

The IPCMC will be an independent body to look into police complaints more holistically, said Dr Mahathir.

In 2004, a Royal Commission of Inquiry was convened by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to look into criticisms against the police over increasing incidents of crime and custodial deaths.

The RCI’s mandate was to study and recommend measures to improve police efficiency and to make the body more respected and formidable as an enforcement agency.

In November 2005, the RCI made 125 recommendations and suggested the establishment of the IPCMC to investigate police malfeasance and take disciplinary measures. – September 27, 2018.