KUALA LUMPUR, 11 March 2009: The government has no intention of using the military to assist police in guarding strategic and high-risk areas in the country, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said the police were still capable of maintaining public security, and this role has never been a problem for the force.
“The global economic slowdown will of course lead to a rise in the crime rate, and this will require more police personnel to be deployed all over the place.
“However, the police are still capable of maintaining peace, including in strategic and high-risk areas. The ministry itself is hoping for public support as one of the crucial elements in curbing crime so that their security is assured,” he said.
He said this when replying to a question from Datuk Seri Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar (BN-Jerantut), who wanted to know whether the military should assist the police in guarding strategic areas including airports, following the rise in crime rates due to the economic recession.
Syed Hamid conceded that there has been an increase in the number of crimes reported throughout the country in the last two years.
The most significant increase was for robbery not involving firearms, where the number rose to 26,763 cases last year compared with 24,328 cases in 2007, an increase of 10.1%.
“Housebreaking and theft also showed an increase of 5.95% from 33,590 cases in 2007 to 35,558 cases in the following year,” he said.
Syed Hamid said the number of motorcycle thefts, however, showed a decline of 247 cases from 67,606 in 2007 to 67,359 cases in 2008. — Bernama
