CP clarifies when cops will check handphones
Published on: Friday, November 22, 2019
By: Sohan Aziz
KENINGAU: Police Commissioner Dato Omar Haji Mammah (pic) assured that police will not check every person’s cellphone arbitrarily but only if there is information and grounds for suspicion.
“Police are not conducting a full inspection (on HP) and only if we feel it is necessary (there is information and suspicious),” he told reporters after closing the Sabah Contingent of Malaysian Royal Police (PDRM) Sexual Crime Awareness Campaign at Tan Sri Suffian Koroh hall of the Keningau Campus Teacher Education Institute (IPG) Thursday.
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He was asked to comment on public reactions what the Deputy Home Minister had said about the HP inspection.
Omar said one party said police could only check HP if there were reports about a crime. While this is a practice in the wake of reports and arrests of criminals, police will continue to examine the available HP from time to time in the criminal investigation process.
“We also check HPs from the public who we think are involved in gambling activities. This is because nowadays most gambling activities use HP. He has wifi, he has internet and he can subscribe to a service provider that offers gambling services.
“This has created a positive reaction among the people who want to combat gambling activities in Sabah because HP is not only used as a communication tool to facilitate communication but also for criminal purposes and especially gambling activities.
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“From time to time when we feel that there are individuals who show suspicious behavior, especially in areas where we consider have a lot of gambling activities, we conduct an investigation,” he said.
Regarding security in the State, Omar said it is very secure, the crime rate was decreasing due to the increasing number of police operations since last year. The police have increased operations
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He said police increased crime prevention operations not only in terms of addiction (drug) but also in terms of distribution.
“We are trying to improve the fighting of crime as drugs in the state is a serious problem not only in big cities, in towns but also in villages.
“I have directed all the District Police Chiefs (OCPD) to select five hotspots which are considered problematic in terms of distribution and drug addiction. In these five villages we concentrate our operations to curb drug activity.
“From the feedback we received drug activity in these places showed a drastic reduction.
“So this is not only because of the increased operations but also the cooperation of the public who is always helping us not only in the operations but also providing us with information,” he said.
Omar said police knew that the drug problem had something to do with other crimes. If drug activity increases in one area then the crime rate will increase, vehicle theft will increase and house breaking, snatch theft, robberies and others will also increase.
He said the police knew that they (the addicts) had no job and the only way to get money to buy drugs was to commit other crimes such as theft. So whatever they steal, the money they used to buy drugs.
So combating drugs also showed a decrease in other crimes in most districts in the state. On the programme today, Omar said a sexual crime awareness campaign was aimed at addressing sexual crimes among children and teenagers.
He said sexual crime was increasing compared to the number of crimes last year which recorded 302 cases but this year increased to 374 cases.
“We must create such a campaign to instill awareness not only among children, teenagers, school student but also parents and community members to work together. These crimes need to be addressed at an early age but also at the school and school leavers so that we can keep our teens and children safe as they are the most important asset that will lead future generations.
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