PRESS STATEMENT BY THE
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF MANAGEMENT FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS

RESPONSE TO MOHD FAIZAL: "POLICE PATROLS: NO NEED TO ALERT BAD HATS THAT COPS ARE AROUND"

Letter to editor from Mohd Faizal Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur entitled "Police Patrols: No need to alert bad hats that cops are around", which was published in The New Straits Times on Thursday, November 20, 2008 is referred.

Firstly, the Royal Malaysia Police appreciate the concern and views from Mohd Faizal. Based on an analysis carried out by the Royal Malaysia Police, to switch on the beacon lights on top of the police patrol cars is one of the very effective crime prevention measures to reduce housebreaking. A Standard Operating Procedure was drafted following the finding of the analysis.

This is an omnipresent strategy and it is applied by the Royal Malaysia Police with the purpose to deter crimes from happening. As we are aware, "prevention is always better than cure", hence the beacon lights are switched on to show the ever presence of police in the residential areas while giving a sense of security to the residents and voiding off burglars. Thus preventing crime from happening with the beacon lights switched on is better than allowing crime to take place which might even involved the victim life.

We hope this explanation has clear the doubt on the subject of beacon lights. For any further enquiries, please email us at rmp@rmp.gov.my or call at the Malaysia Control Centre (MCC) at phone number 03-22626555 or 03-22627555.

(LAI YONG HENG) ACP
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF MANAGEMENT FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS
ROYAL MALAYSIA POLICE