THERE had been no political interference in the police department previously, said two former senior police officers, who described the current situation in the force as worrying.

Ex Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Zaman Khan told The Malaysian Insight that all decisions in the police force then were decided by a committee headed by the Inspector-General of Police.

“During my time there was no interference. All promotions of police officers, from ASP and above, were made by a committee chaired by the IGP and his deputy.

“There were four directors and I was one of them. We sit in a conference room and we discuss the promotion of police officers.

“There will not be interference from any politicians and those who will get promoted will be screened, and even the anti-graft body will conduct a background check,” said Zaman.

Zaman served the police force from June 1962 to 1977.

Zaman however admitted that differences between one officer to another was normal.

“I was in the situation before. The IGP (then), Haniff Omar was about to retire and I was called by the prime minister, Tun Mahathir at that time.

“He told me that the police committee had agreed to appoint me as the new deputy IGP, but the new IGP told the committee that he could not work with me.

“Dr Mahathir made it clear that he did not want the IGP and the DIG not speaking to each other. To make the story short, I did not become the DIG and became the prisons director-general instead.

“That was it. The PM never meddled in the police affairs, (neither did) the Home Minister at the time. They left it to the cops to decide,” recalled Zaman.

Haniff was replaced by Rahim Noor and Norian Mai became Rahim’s deputy.

Last Friday, outgoing IGP Abdul Hamid Bador dropped a bombshell in his last press conference, where he trained his guns on Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin, who he said had overstepped his boundary in interfering with police matters.

Hamid warned that the country was on a slippery slope if politicians meddled or interfered with police matters.

“A minister cannot interfere in the affairs of the police force. The minister is only empowered to set policies.

“Don’t get upset, (if I say), the home minister has too much power. Come on,” he told editors in a press conference at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.

Halim Ishak, a former elite police officer attached to the VAT69, mirrored Zaman’s sentiment.

Halim, who now chairs the Malaysian Community Care Foundation (MCCF) said if there was any interference, the involvement was not as serious.

“I do not think so, if there was, it was not as bad as now. It did not involve the promotion of (the) IGP or his deputy or senior police officers,” he said.

Halim suggested that politicians must stay out of the police commission force as the body needs to be free from any political influence.

“No minister should sit in the committee because the police need to be free from political influence,” said Halim.

Halim then questioned why the prime minister and the chief secretary to the government have not made any statement over the issue.

Halim served the police force from 1986 to 1996 and worked under Haniff Omar and Rahim Noor.

Meanwhile, former IGP Musa Hassan told Mingguan Malaysia today that political interference happened during his time.

“During my time, there were politicians who asked the police to release their gang members and there were also those who gave instructions to state police chiefs without my knowledge.

“These political interferences in investigations have occurred to the point it disrupted investigations,” he told the Malay language daily.

Musa, who was the IGP from 2006 to 2010, told the paper that no one had absolute authority in the matter of changing and appointing officers serving in the police force. – May 2, 2021.