One day while you walk to a shopping mall, suddenly you are stop by two gentlemen who claiming they are the police personnel from CID. They ask you to follow them to their car. What will be your action ? All Malaysians should agree with me that if you have to confront with someone, the policemen would be the last person that you would like to confront with.
In this country where policemen are so powerful even to the extent of having the “shoot to kill” authority or in conducting interrogation they sometime use “admit or die” approach, therefore in the above case I am sure that majority of us will follow them to their car. The question of whether they are real police or impersonator is not important at this point of time , but what important to us is their authority and power....in this situation we will not be able to exercise our right unless you know them.
Ironically, the increased use of undercover policing seems to be contributing to the spread of police impersonation. Real cons and mass media dramas involving the undercover theme have accustomed citizens and culprits alike to the presence of non-uniformed police.
This can lead to a reverse version of the ‘who are you really’ question for those who are part of a genuine cover operation. In such a scenario, real police — undercover, plainclothes or off-duty — may occasionally also be perceived as imposters.
The question “are you real” becomes even more complex when individuals whose formal affiliation with a police agency is genuine but whose behavior is criminal.
Arguably, women seem more likely to be victimised by bogus cops, especially in traffic cases. Consider a female driver being harassed and coerced to sex by a rascal copy cat law enforcer. Beyond facing the trappings of official legal power, the women pulled over may additionally be vulnerable as a result of the impersonator’s behaviour.
An incident in Kuala Lumpur on New Year’s Eve is a good example. An 18-year-old university student’s car was stopped in Taman Tun Dr Ismail and asked by four men, claiming to be cops, to open the bonnet. The men then told her she had committed an offence and ordered her to follow them to a police station.
The girl was driven in her car along the North-South expressway to the Tapah-Cameron Highlands Road before she was raped in an oil palm estate.
Consider too the case of girls window-shopping or waiting for a bus as what had happened in Kuching also on New Year’s Eve.
In one instance, a 16-year-old was reportedly window-shopping at a store in Jalan Ang Cheng Ho when a man in his 50s approached her. Claiming to be a police inspector, he told her he had a court warrant to check her for drugs possession.The man told the girl to follow him to a black Perodua Kenari. He then drove her to a lonely spot in Jalan Bako where he ordered her to unbutton her clothes because he wanted to check for drugs. When she undressed, the man grabbed her breasts and asked her to remove her trousers!
Foreigners, especially illegal immigrants, fearing deportation, seem more likely to be victimised. One such incident occurred in Johor in 2007. The 29-year-old victim had taken a short cut through a back alley to get to her hostel in Jalan Pelangi at 1.30pm when two men stopped her.
They showed her a pair a handcuffs and asked for her identification documents. When she could not produce the papers, they told her to get on one of their motorcycles.
Instead of taking her to the police station, they rode to a plantation where they raped her and took away her belongings. The woman, who managed to find her way out of the area, sought the help of passers-by to send her to the police station. She is probably the exception because most illegal immigrants do not report such incidents … for obvious reasons.
There are no national statistics but it’s likely incidents of such a nature account for the most unreported of violations partly because the victims may not realise they have been duped or may feel no great harm is done.
Regardless, the fact that there are such crimes being perpetrated against either citizens or illegal immigrants should alert motorists or individuals to the need to exercise extreme caution when flagged down or approached by people who claim to be plainclothes-policemen. The commonest problem is that most people take instructions without determining if the other person is really a cop.
So, what should people, especially women, do if stopped by the police? Many people think police officers have unlimited power of search and arrest. Not true.
While Section 3 of the Police Act 1967 appears to give police officers the authority to search and arrest where necessary to prevent and detect crime, this power is, however, subjected to the principle of “legality” — that is police officers could be made liable for damages for unlawful search and arrest of citizens in the street and inside premises.
Article 8 of the Federal Constitution protects the citizens from arbitrary power of the police and police officers are subjected to the rule of law, implying that all powers must be specifically conferred.
Both the Police and the Criminal Procedure Code do not provide specific powers to permit random stop and search of persons without an arrest. However, there are provisions in the law that allows police officers to stop and search vehicles suspected to have been used in committing a criminal offence.
The Police Act 1967 allows police officers to seize vehicles for the purpose of inspecting for incriminating goods and after the search has been completed, the vehicles must be returned to its rightful owner as soon as possible. These police officers are not to detain the seized vehicles without a court order for a period longer than that permitted by the Police Act 1967.
>How to Avoid Being A Victim of Police Impersonator<
There are steps you can take to help you identify a police impersonator and avoid becoming a victim.
Rule No 1. Stay Calm. If you do not do anything wrong …DON’T WORRY about the police. They are just doing their job.
Rule No 2. Ask for their Authority Cards. Every policeman is given with a Authority Card. You can ask the person in blue to produce his Authority Card and if he could not produce it for verification of identity, then there is reasonable suspicion the uniformed person is not a policeman. At the same time, if the person in blue showed a purported Authority Card but without you being properly given the chance to know whether or not that card refers to the person concerned, then, this also should give rise to the same suspicion and a report should immediately be lodge with the nearest police station.
Rule No 3. When facing with such a situation above, it is best not to follow the person’s instructions or him to the police station. Of course, if he is not in uniform, one may not know whether or not he is a policeman. But once he is not in uniform, we can always disregard him,” One point to note is that a policeman not wearing his uniform has no the authority to stop anyone.
Rule No 4. Women must also be aware that the law requires a female to be searched by a female and if a male policeman makes a bodily search on a female, complaints can be made for assault and battery.
Rule No 5. The police officer who conducts the search has no right to command a person being searched to go to police station with him without disclosing that the person is placed under arrest and without revealing the reasons of arrest. Means If you have not been informed of the purpose and reasons of your arrest, get someone to lodge a police report on your behalf first so that the matter can be investigated at the earliest opportunity.
Rule No 6. In the event that you are placed under arrest, make sure the police officer, conducting the arrest, does not bring you anywhere, except to the nearest police station. If he makes a detour, you need to warn him you will make a complaint against him to his senior officers.”
Malaysian Bar Council has published a Red Book Pamphlet No 24 on how to dealt with the police. The pamphlet is available and can be read here.
"Because we care, we're security aware"
Posted by Captain Rtd Ayong Entili at 11:51 PM
Labels: avoid police impersonator, Car Security Tips, malaysian police butality, PDRM, Personal Security, security slogan
The Source of information is from:
http://securexnet.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-avoid-from-become-victim-of.html
Folks, sometimes we are literally caught with our pants down when we come across these unforeseen consequences. After reading this article posted by Capt. (Rtd) Ayong, it sort of gave me a deeper understanding of my constitutional rights as a Malaysian
citizen. I hope you guys will take some of your precious time to read this very educational post. It's very important to know YOUR RIGHTS in the country you live in.
Have a blessed day, fellow Malaysians.
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