Majority of police stations lack staff

ISKANDAR PUTERI: More than 500 or 65% of the total 791 police stations across the country are facing a shortage of personnel, including police station chiefs (OCS).

Bukit Aman Management Department director Comm Datuk Seri Asri Yusoff said most of the police stations currently had fewer than 35 personnel, and some of the stations in Sabah and Sarawak only had four to five.

To overcome this matter, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) implemented a Modern Policing guideline in Kuala Lumpur’s Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) and Brickfields in 2015.

“According to this guideline, each police station needs a minimum of 35 members or a maximum of 230 members with an OCS at least of a deputy superintendent (DSP) position. One of the three core objectives must be about crime prevention.

“But the reality we are facing now is that most of the OCS are from the post of inspector or sergeant or below, adding to the pressure and burden on them,” said Comm Asri.

He said the guideline was part of the research conducted by PDRM to figure out the needed capacity for one police station to operate properly.

“The TTDI and Brickfields police stations were our first pilot project based on the guideline. The results were so good that even the public had praised our efforts.

“What we are trying to do now is to get help from the government on the best way to fill up the vacancies in the force,” he said.