COMMENT | Long road ahead to cleanse police force

COMMENT | I penned these comments in 2021 because of a series of happenings, chief among them was the open display of double standards, especially in the enforcement of the movement control order:

“The police force – its reputation, image, and conduct - hardly smell like a bunch of roses. From being accused of arbitrarily issuing summonses to being accused of corruption, from assaulting people in remand to shooting and killing innocent people, they have taken all of them on their chins.

“Despite being pilloried and crucified (in a figurative sense) by Suhakam commissioners and judges in a court of law, there’s always the brave front – refusing to acknowledge nor deny their roles and admit wrongdoing.”

Today, nothing has changed much and often we hear accusations of favouritism and witch hunts.

Last year, the police force got a black eye when they falsely claimed they shot three men in self-defence at the roadside on the outskirts of Rawang.

But coroner Rasyihah Ghazali ruled there was a criminal element in the case and that there was an abuse of power by the authorities in the fatal shooting of G Thavaselvan, 31, S Mahendran, 23, and Sri Lankan national J Vijayaratnam, 40.

In short, it was an unlawful killing...