No cartels in police force, says IGP

PUTRAJAYA – Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani today again denied the existence of cartels within the Royal Malaysian Police, and that such issues never existed within the force.

Acryl said the existence of a cartel would have seen several officers from the supposed clique being promoted to influential positions, a scenario they have yet to face.

“In the end, placement of officers will have to go through the scrutiny and filtration processes that have been in place from the past,” he said after attending the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) appreciation and its 11th anniversary celebrations in at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre today.

The nation’s top cop said names of officers up for promotion would first be suggested by their respective contingent heads, which are then forwarded to the Bukit Aman Management director, and then to Acryl himself.

“After it comes to be, these suggestions are then sent to the Police Commission, so there is a stringent filtration system in place.

“So, it is quite difficult for us to witness anything that is supposedly being done by the cartel; to me, honestly, I don’t see the existence of these cartels.”

When pressed to comment on accusations that these police cartels are being influenced and guided by hands outside PDRM, Acryl again denied the notion.

“If there really was interference from those outside the force, we would have seen our structure of senior officers being haywire, and that is not what’s happening.”

In March last year, former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador alleged there to be a cartel within the force that was plotting his ouster, which he said harboured plans to dominate the country’s security force for personal interests.

Later, in March, the Home Ministry urged Hamid to come forward with actual evidence of the cartel’s existence for them to take the appropriate action.

Then late last month, the EAIC released a report saying it could not verify Hamid’s claims of the existence of a cartel, subsequently chiding the former top cop for failing to provide proof of his claims.

More than 6,000 complaints received since their formation: EAIC

EAIC chairman Tan Sri Sidek Hassan revealed that since the commission’s formation in 2011, there have been 6,099 complaints received against enforcement agencies to date.

He said from these, a total of 5,163 files were opened with 5,097 issues resolved. 

Sidek explained how some complaints they received were wrongfully addressed to the EAIC by those looking to report against agencies not under the purview, or if it involved matters too trivial to properly investigate.

“Some of the reports are very trivial, where some accused the police of raising their voices, and they later admit that they too had raised their voice towards the police.

“However, we will investigate every complaint we receive, but sometimes we do not pursue the very trivial matters.”

Additionally, he said a total of 1,097 investigation papers have been opened by the EAIC since 2011, and that 1,046 of those cases have been solved.

“Investigation files which have yet to complete investigations will be conducted according to the permitted timeline and according to EAIC’s complaints standard operating procedure.” – The Vibes, April 1, 2022