POLICE have no objections in the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), said Abu Kassim Mohamed.

The National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) director-general who met with Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador and senior officers today said that they had managed to address the concerns that were raised by them on the matter.

“We have discussed their concerns on what we are going to put into our papers and the laws that we are going to draft that will be presented to the cabinet.

“There are no obstructions and they gave their support to the government to set up the IPCMC.

“There are still a few things to discuss and we plan to complete all this and bring it to the cabinet in the next two weeks,” he said after the meeting in Putrajaya.

The IPCMC is a police oversight body proposed by a royal commission of inquiry in 2005 to improve the police force, following a spate of deaths in custody.

In 2006, the police force under IGP Mohd Bakri Omar launched a campaign to reject the IPCMC. 

Abu Kassim said one of the concerns that was raised during the meeting was whether the IPCMC has the power to prosecute.

“They don’t have the power to prosecute and they will only act as a disciplinary body.

“They will only address disciplinary cases,” he said.

He said that the Integrity and Standards Compliance Department will still continue to carry out investigations and the IPCMC will not interfere in their role.

“The IPCMC is not taking away the role of the compliance department. 

“If there are complaints, both agencies can conduct their own investigations.

“Once the IPCMC is set up, then the complaints will be channelled to their disciplinary division,” he said.

Abu Kassim said he is confident the IPCMC will be established within this year. 

Hamid said he was pleased with the meeting and all the issues that were raised by the officers were explained in detail. 

“The explanation given by Abu Kassim was very clear. The IPCMC is giving a lot of room to police and it will not erode the powers that they have been given. 

“We will meet in a week with GIACC to finalise what was discussed and decided,” he said. – May 10, 2019.