DAP delegation meets police chief on community safety, crime prevention measures
KUCHING: A Democratic Action Party ( DAP) delegation paid a courtesy visit yesterday on district police chief ACP Ng Ah Lek to discuss various initiatives and programmes to promote community safety and crime prevention.
Led by Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, the delegation was also briefed by Ng and his officers on the daily operations and services on the police force.
One of the issues discussed was the ‘ Bandar Selamat’ or ‘ Safe Township’ initiative by Kuching North City Commission ( DBKU) and the police to address areas with high crime rate, through programmes that increase public awareness of crime and engage the local community, installation of more street lighting, closedcircuit television ( CCTV) and increasing police patrols.
The programme has been implemented in Kampung Kudei and Jalan Nanas Barat, which reportedly have seen a decrease in crime rates since.
The delegation also discussed the ‘Community Policing’ initiative all around the city where residents of different housing areas volunteer and play their part with the police to curb crime in the different residential areas.
“Community Policing is a good initiative where normal citizens take ownership and work together with the police to ensure the safety of their community encourage. I encourage more people to be part of it,” said Dr Yii.
In addition, he said the group also spoke about the reforms the Pakatan Harapan government intends to implement, especially in the public service with regard to anti- corruption measures, and on greater accountability and transparency including in the police force.
“We spoke specifically on the needs of the police department and how we could curb incidents of alleged bribes and corruption at different levels in the force and how we can address this issue.
“It may be a long journey of reform, but we will work together to ensure greater accountability and that the police force will carry out their duties cleanly in ensuring the safety of our community.
“We will also work towards a decrease in political interference in the police force in order to release them to do their jobs in ensuring the safety of the people,” said Dr Yii.