Police corruption: Low pay not main factor — ministry

KUALA LUMPUR: The issue of low salary among officers of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) is not the main factor causing them to be involved in activities such as corruption and abuse of power, said the Home Ministry.

The ministry in a written reply to Datuk Raime Unggi (BN-Tenom), which was circulated in the Dewan Rakyat sitting yesterday, said the involvement of a small number of them were motivated by personal pressure such as wanting to have a luxury living, spending beyond their means such as purchasing cars, clothes and home furnishings and so on, causing them to have a deficit in their expenditure.

“Statistics on the involvement of police personnel in corrupted practices in 2016 released by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is only 187 cases or 0.15 per cent of the total police force,” said KDN in the written reply.

Raime wanted to know the ministry’s efforts in reviewing the salary and welfare schemes of police personnel in order to curb corruption and abuse of power.

The ministry said the government had taken the initiative to improve the special salary system for the Malaysian Armed Forces and police force by introducing the Transformative Remuneration Scheme effective January 1, 2013.

According to the written reply, the salaries of the armed forces and police force were standardised through the initiative, making it more competitive.

“The ministry is aware and cares about the rising cost of living at present that burdens civil servants, including police personnel. - Bernama