Sunday, May 2, 2010

PLEASE MR. POLICEMAN – SHOOT THE RIGHT TARGET

It has taken me quite a while to pen this article relating to the death of 15 year old school boy Aminulrasyid Amzah who was shot by a policeman in the early hours of Monday 26 May in Shah Alam. The reason is simply because I am a bit dumb founded at the way our policeman are reacting these days, and it becomes obvious to me that there is something seriously wrong with the training of our policeman. I now begin to fear that I too can be shot at anytime, for any reason that the police may find it necessary to shot me. For a moment I thought I was in Zimbabwe or in some forsaken African state, but it wasn’t to be. Thanks,I am still in Malaysia and seeing this ‘freelance sharp shooter’ who is a government employee so willingly use his gun to stop a car really frightens me. Isn’t there any other way to stop a fleeing car, or is shooting the car the only way to stop a car? Isn’t there a thing called ‘the use of minimum force’ by way of warning shots, before a policeman ‘goes for the kill’?

I thought our policemen are equipped with high speed cars and motorcycles. And even if they are on low powered motorcycles, they have the means to call for reinforcement. Isn’t that the way they are trained?

I simply could not fathom why a gun had to be used to stop a car. If it was a fleeing car that was trying to get away from the policeman, then the policeman wasn’t in any danger of being rammed by the car. And neither was the policeman in danger of being shot, or attacked with a parang, or has already being shot by someone from the fleeing car. Neither of these things happened, and yet the policeman thought that using the gun was the best option.

Now, if the policeman were to say that he only intended to shot the car tyres to disable the car, then he is a bad shot, and he requires many more hours of training at the shooting range. And if indeed he was a poor shooter, than I think he should not have been given a gun, and the police must accept blame for allowing a poor shooter to be equipped with a gun. I now wonder when did the policeman last undergo a shooting practice?

I have handled guns before, but I must confess that I am a poor shot. Guns are not easy to use, but by virtue that a gun is the personal weapon of a policeman, then they must be experts at handling a gun and engaging a target at the right point of aim. Since, there have been numerous cases of shooting by policeman that resulted in death, I presume then that their training calls for ‘one shot one kill’ type of training. This was what was told to me by a UTK friend of mine, who does not believe in a second shot kill. In the case of the UTK, I can fully understand their reasoning because the danger to their lives is real.

The IGP’s statement following the incident when he said that “if you do not want the police to enforce the law, then say so. I will tell my men to not take any action, including conduct inspection on vehicles or arrest Mat Rempits who ride without licenses” is laughable. Such words coming from the IGP is unbecoming and makes the entire force a laughing stock. I would like to suggest that the IGP goes for a public relations course. But on second thought, it is a bit too late for him, because he has just a few months left before he retires from the force.

Let us hope that this will be the last time that we hear of a shooting of a school boy. The policeman has many other targets to shoot, like robbers, murders and kidnappers, but certainly not another school boy.


CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION

14 comments:

FMZam said...

Dear Dato',

I'd rather welcome the IGP's unbecoming response so we might as well not having policemen patrolling our streets with no apparent reduction in street crimes and Mat Rempit, to waste more of taxpayers' money on a new element of crime force - the police themselves. I'd say if PULAPOL is not a place to produce trained policemen who uphold laws and protect the innocents, then PULAPOL is Pusat Latihan POLONG!

FMZam said...

It takes one bad cop to smear the good name of the whole police force, but when that bad cop is the police supremo himself, then the rule of "no bad soldier but bad general" applies, the general to bear the responsibility of his soldier's actions. As if there's no other able policeman to lead the force that this government has keep extending Musa Hassan's contract until he became a monster. Musa is a deterioration factor of the whole of PDRM he should quit and join UMNO as its chief security officer.

IbnAbdHalim said...

Perhaps those cops hadn't had enough time at the rifle range. Oops! Is it a rifle range or a shooting gallery at PULAPOL?

Anyway, what come across one's mind is the lack of competency in PDRM. Is it the direct or the indirect result of being led by a notorious top cop? Btw, the IGP (or is it P.I.G)has to go. He has overstayed his welcome.

Malaysian said...

In American, anybody can carry gun. Also, it's very easy to get gun in America. In Malaysia, it's very difficult to get gun for commoner like me. It's mind boggling that the police must shoot an individual. Is our country that damn dangerous?

We've illegal 4D, prostitution at Chow kit road, illegal DVD, corruption, rape cases, etc yet nothing have been done by the police. What happen to our country?

F said...

Dato, a few months ago it was announced that to cope with the influx of recruits, time spent on basic training will be shortened. To compensate for this, newly inducted police personnel will be paired with experienced partners for on the job training. The question we should ask is have training standards been lowered as a result of the move to rapidly increase the size of the PDRM?
Was the policeman involved in the shooting a 'rookie' copper?

The IGP not only needs to attend a PR course but needs to be reminded that the police are meant to serve the people and are subject to accountability. His statement ''I can take my men of the streets'' is disgraceful and is an embarassement to the country, coming from the most senior police officer.

Capt's Longhouse said...

dato,

,,,just show me a country or a company that is not doing well and i will show you a bad leader !.
,,,we malaysian are all in trouble cos. almost all of our present leadership from the PM himself is pretty hopeless, to be real honest from my observations.
,,,our PDRM is not professional enough too, very emotional and mostly semi-educated i.e. not fit to be in uniform to maintain law and order, in fact most of the daily corruption can be traced to many of them manning the streets. Worst than gangsters/robbers since they are supposed to take care of the rakyat, not frightening/shooting their way to proof a point and often demanding money instead of issuing a fine ticket for any traffic offence.
,,,Sad to say this but i have lost my respect to many of my policemen friends after getting to know them better too. All boils down to poor leadership and poor training !. Trigger happy too always ?. eerrmm....very very sad.
...Perhaps we should be wearing bullet proof vest nowadays while driving !.

Tok Uban

Akuromeo said...

hello.

dunt u know among the cops involved de incident were x-army
so the army's PUSASDA is not a place to produce trained serviceman
My 2 dinar

SysOp said...

Dear Dato,

I know many policeman that only once in a blue moon get a chance to make a shot from in sidearm/handgun in his/her entire services.

I'm sure they are poor shooter than I.

C++
CipanTapirTenuk.Blogspot

Kamal Sanusi said...

Dear Dato'

This is what happen when PDRM have quantities rather than qualities namely their big boss.

Thank God I am not a gangster but with my criminal mind, I will use 1001 ways to press the PDRM so that the said boss will take out all his personnel from the street.

Then I will laugh all the way to the bank.

Very surprising to read comment from SysOp.

Kah kah kah!!!...

Mawar_Rimba said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mawar_Rimba said...

Akuromeo, is the profile picture really yours or are you trying to "menghina" some retarded people. If it is not, its not FUNNY. I hope someone in your family will be born like that. Azz Ole.

Unknown said...

The problem with PDRM today is they think of themselves more of a FORCE than what a police should be as in any civilised society. Can we blame them when even Dato Arshad himself refer them as such?
The Police should never be seen as a force, bearing arms and weapons on an armless society. In this context, the application of arms/force must be done judiciuosly, and as a last resort. Surely there is such a rule as minimum force (shoot only when shot at)when apprehending suspected criminals and that it is the core aspect of PDRM's Rules of Engagement (ROE). Unless this fundamental aspect of the rule is preached and practiced, I am afraid they are no better than the gangsters themselves.
Tan Sri Musa, your comments in regard to allowing the police to do nothing at the scene of crimes is not only unintellectual but also an insult to all policemen. . I do not know whether you were misquoted, but in the absence of an official retraction, you must be deemed guilty.. The comment is not only uncalled for but most unbecoming of a IGP.
All societies need policemen, primarilly to keep law and order by upholding the law and keep the society safe. On the other hand if the Police themselve act lawlesswly disregarding common human decency like shooting at the unarmed public, then the Police themselves will become a threat to the society itself.
Is this such a case in Malaysia. Do we need to take up arms (like in the USA) to protect us as individual members of society against the Government? I hope not.
Having said all that, I leave to the wisdom of the AG to act in accordance to the expectations of the society. To my simplistic mind, shooting dead a unarmed 15 year old, whether he was driving a stolen tank or a proton waja smacks of manslaughter.
Of course bearing in mind the credibitlty of the AG, I don't expect much will emerge from this incident...
Maybe it is high time we restructure the PDRM to be more in line with other modern societies?
To protect us against such brutal transgression, the Police should be dismantled to enhance the concept of Localisation thereby reduce the negative effects of Federalism. ..The IGP is sounding like Hannibal!!!
My sincere condolence to the parents.

Capt's Longhouse said...

dato,

,,,indeed, i find it most rediculous for the stupidity of our IGP in defending his ill discipline men.
,,,cound not sleep well last night thinking of the poor kid being chased and shot/killed at by the policemen. What were they thinking ?. The only fear they have to fear is fear itself and were they being shot at by the 15 years old kid ?. I fear for my 16 years old son lives everytime he goes out with his friends nowadays.
,,,the C4 killing by the policemen again crossed my mind !..killers in uniform indeed. Nowadays the rakyat fears the police more than robbers from the way things are happening in our country.
,,,What a bloody shame !. Most unbecoming.

komando said...

SHOOT FIRST ASK LATER !

LIKE THE GOOD OLE DAYS !

COWBOYS AND INDIANS !

INDIANS ALL BAD !

JAPANESE ALL BAD !

GERMANS ALL BAD !

USA YANKEE GRANGO ALL GOOD !

SO YANKEES ALWAYS DO THE SHOOTING FIRST, AND ASK LATER...WE LEARN A LOT FROM THEM..WATCHING BLACK & WHITE TV MOVIES...!

NOE PRDM - SO NOW ALL COPS (IGP) aka PIG...

DAMN GOOD....THEY SHOOT FIRST ALSO AND ASK LATER...

QUESTION:
ARE YOU DEAD YET,?
ARE YOU A DRUG PUSHER?
ARE YOU AN ARMED ROBBER?
ARE YOU ARE RAPISTS/MAT REMPIT

ANSWER:
FROM THE DEAD MEAT !
I AM IN HEAVEN - MATI SYAHID !

AG'S VERDICT:
NO CASE TO ANSWER..NFA !
DEAD MEAT TELL NO TALES..!
CAN'T TALK..!
NO PROOF..!
STOP SPECULATION ...!

Sudah nasi jadi bubur...keluar jadi NAJIS,,oopppsss...Najib!

C4'ed....Ko'ed....died'ed...

WELL DONE MAN IN BLUE..KEEP IT UP...SHOOT SOME MORE !