ALOR STAR: Kedah police are gearing up for the reopening of Malaysian-Thai land border, with focus on managing the risk of trans-border crimes.
Kedah police chief Commissioner of Police Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad said each of the 11 district police chiefs in the state had been ordered to formulate a comprehensive plan to manage the threat of trans-border crimes.
"As we are aware, for the past two years there have been a significant drop in crime activities and traffic accident cases because the international borders were closed.
"Thus, we need to come up a plan to manage the risk of trans-border crimes and other crimes spike once the borders are reopened.
"I have instructed all 11 police chiefs in the state to come up with a comprehensive action plan to be presented at a special workshop to be held in Langkawi on March 2," he told reporters after receiving RM50,000 worth of flood rescue equipment from Kedah Tithe Board (LNZK) chief executive officer Datuk Zakaria Othman at the state police headquarters here today.
Wan Hassan said police would be working closely with the Health Ministry and the National Security Council in ensuring Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) compliance at the borders.
On Monday, Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand Datuk Jojie Samuel said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was expected to announce a 'good news' on the reopening of the Malaysian-Thai border during his official visit to Bangkok tomorrow Thursday.
Wan Hassan said Kedah police had also formed several task forces under the Criminal Investigation Department to manage the spike of crime cases in the state.
"We have identified a number of crime activities which are un upward trend as compared to last year, since there were heavy presence of policemen manning roadblocks under the Movement Control Order.
"We have seen the spike of several crime cases following the reopening of more economic sectors, so the Kedah police criminal investigation department chief have formed task forces to manage the situation," he said.
Meanwhile, on an unrelated development, Wan Hassan said the state police would deploy its manpower to monitor SOP compliance in a gathering involving up to 5,000 participants scheduled to be held in Langkawi next month.
"Yes, such event or gathering are allowed under the Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan but we wish to remind the public to strictly observe the SOPs set by the government," he said.