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Thursday, February 16, 2023

Cops must take reports regardless of people’s attire, says Saifuddin


FMT:

Cops must take reports regardless of people’s attire, says Saifuddin



The home minister, however, reminds the public to be decently attired when visiting government offices, such as police stations.



Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said he would not compromise with police officers that were ‘not prepared’ to take reports from the public.


PUTRAJAYA: Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says the police must take reports from the public regardless of their attire.

Saifuddin said he would not compromise with police officers that were “not prepared” to take reports from the public.

“We do not agree with the cop’s action (in refusing to take a report because of what the complainant was wearing),” he said after a media engagement session.

Saifuddin, however, reminded the public to observe the dress code at public offices, such as police stations.


“People should also be aware of the element of ‘decency’ when going to these places,” he said.

A woman recently claimed that she was refused entry into the Kajang district police headquarters (IPD) to lodge a police report following a car accident because of her attire.

The woman claimed she was wearing Bermudas that covered her knees.

She said she was only allowed to enter the police station after her sister brought her a pair of long pants.

Kajang police later confirmed that a woman was denied entry into the police station because her attire did not comply with its dress code.

The incident led to brickbats from various quarters.

Last week, Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said department heads had the discretion to determine the dress code for government offices.

He said the chief secretary to the government had given directives on the appropriate attire when visiting government offices.

Former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan said police should not stop anyone from lodging a report just because of the complainant’s choice of attire.

He said the police should not be “chasing” away those who want to lodge a report as it was their duty to help the public.


1 comment:

  1. Look, most Malaysians are not crazy. You normally dress up when you go out.
    However, there are any number of scenarios where you basically come as you are when you have no choice to go to the police station or hospital emergency room.

    A person is a victim of a crime and her clothes are in tatters.
    A person is out exercising and fell ill.
    Etc
    Etc...
    If you have Little Napoleon's turning people away, "exercising their discretion", you quickly end up with a vital public service that is more focused on moral policing than their real job function.

    ReplyDelete