Police posts for communities

28 September 2009 , By The Star

MUAR: Police posts will be set up and CCTVs installed to combat crime in Johor, said Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman.

He said that three initiatives costing RM82mil would include the setting up of 100 community police posts in residential areas with less than 1,000 homes, the installation of 2,000 CCTVs statewide and the hiring of 200 auxiliary policemen to be deployed with local councils.

For a start, the projects would be implemented within Iskandar Malaysia in the south before being implemented statewide.

“We need to tackle the issue of crime and these are among the immediate measures being undertaken,” said Abdul Ghani, adding that the initiatives did not include the patrol cars and men, including Federal Reserve Force and General Operations Force personnel, dispatched to patrol crime hotspots in the state.

Abdul Ghani said the moves were necessary for people to know the Government was serious in tackling the problem.

“It will also increase the police presence statewide,” he said at his Hari Raya open house here recently.

In detailing the initiatives, he said the police posts would be manned by seven personnel, including volunteers, and be under the command of the respective district police headquarters.

“The CCTVs will add to the existing ones at strategic spots in the city,” he said, adding that the auxiliary policemen would be hired by the local councils.

For the moment, 50 auxiliary policemen would be dispatched to four councils in Iskandar Malaysia after they undergo a three-month training, Abdul Ghani added.

“They can be used to patrol crime hotspots in the councils’ jurisdictions,” he said.

On the Hari Raya open house, Abdul Ghani said the turnout was overwhelming and this showed the 1Malaysia spirit with Malay sians of different races coming together.

All guests were required to wash hands at special wash basins and pass a thermal camera as a precau tion against the influenza A (H1N1).