The cops seem to have their own agenda

‘Don’t bribe me’ - So says a car sticker found at the back of almost all police patrol cars you see in KL roads nowadays.

I understand the message the cops are trying to send to the public but there is a small problem here, at least for me.

Why is it that the police seem to be trying to put the blame on the public for the corruption in the police force?

It sounds as though it is the public who are forcing the cops to take bribe. I would have thought that a more positive message would be one in which the message reflects the force itself and not the public -something like ‘I don’t take bribe’.

Hang on a minute! Didn’t the cops use to have a ‘Saya Anti-Rasuah’ badges on the uniform?

Yes they did! I know the top brass had removed that slogan in a recent revamp, ostensibly to send a better message to the public.

The problem is that the new message, as found in the patrol cars, gives a wrong impression that it’s the public, and not the cops, who should bear the brunt of the corruption menace!

Something more reflective and self appraisal is definitely needed if the force is genuine in wanting to remove graft.

And I would like to add something else about the action of the police in regards to the residents’ protest for a toll-free access road in Cheras - the superior officer who gave the go-ahead to fire tear gas and spray water cannon two nights ago should be disciplined!

Don’t they ever learn? It has been just about two months since the people gave a resounding warning to the BN government on the various grouses with government policies, one of which was the way the police was acting like kings in many instances while failing to solve more important matters like crime prevention.

And the brutal action by the cops seem to indicate that the force think they are a government on their own. What could have been solved amicable has been allowed to spillover into another people versus government matter.

What were the cops thinking when they sprayed a pepper-spray onto a DAP MP? And what were they thinking in trying to intimidate people who had gathered at the same night in Dataran Merdeka for a candlelight vigil?

If Abdullah thinks he can make reforms, the first thing he has look at is the police force. These guys need serious lessons of public relations and on how to treat people decently.

Not everyone is a national threat, not everyone is a criminal, BUT everyone is a citizen who has his rights that must be protected, especially by the police.

The cops must first ditch their attitude of Us versus Them and start seeing the public as people who they are suppose to protect, not antagonise.