Cops mull extension to fill auxiliary units

LANGKAWI: The police will consider giving an extension to government and private agencies that are having difficulty filling vacancies in their auxiliary police units.

Security and Crime Prevention Department support resources coordination principal assistant director Datuk Mazlan Kesah said the matter would be taken into account and of the 60,611 posts approved, only 30,365 had been filled.

He said this was because each agency that applied for a licence to form such units had to meet the staffing quota within three years.

“If they cannot meet the requirement, they can apply for an extension and we are ready to assist them,” he told reporters after officiating at the passing-out parade for auxiliary police basic training course participants at the Police Training Centre (Pulapol) here.

Mazlan said the extension period was also to address the shortage of auxiliary police, which he considered an essential unit to complement the security forces in the country.

He said former officers and police personnel were also encouraged to join the auxiliary police if they received a good offer.

“Private entities or non-governmental organisations are also welcome to work with the police to provide human capital to fill the vacancies,” he added.

He said one such collaboration was done between MIC and Pulapol recently to train 54 Indian youths on basic policing towards becoming auxiliary policemen.