Credit where credit's due. Amidst misconduct among men and women in blue being front and centre these days, the federal police Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS) is speeding up its hunt for errant cops.
In one of its probes, JIPS found "ang pow packets" stashed away in a policeman's locker in the Setapak police station. His case has been submitted to Bukit Aman for further investigation.
The police aren't saying how much was in the packets, but a whistleblower site revealed on Tuesday that JIPS discovered RM4,329 in the policeman's locker and a further RM2,050 in "ang pow" in a bag attached to his right hip.
We worry what favour was bought for that amount of money. Bravo JIPS, for this integrity spot check and the 500,000 conducted last year. Such spot checks send a stern message of deterrence to cops who are bent on mischief.
Even better deterrence is speedy dismissals and court action against bad cops. Swift action not only drives fear into the hearts of crooked cops, but also increases the people's trust in the police force. There is a correlation between police integrity and public trust.
The people are not pushing for a spotlessly clean police force. That will be unrealistic given the fact that two per cent of the police force is tainted. The best that can be done is to get rid of this two per cent so that the rest are not "infected".
We must not underestimate the power of greed, a vice that the weak in heart host. It will urge the corruptible to be corrupt soon enough. But JIPS alone cannot get rid of the rotten ones.
By JIPS own admission to this newspaper's Beyond the Headlines, it took 3,789 investigation papers before the force could dismiss 139 police officers. We wonder how many spot checks and probes were needed to get to the 139 bad cops. 500,000? That is a humongous job for one department.
JIPS' job will be made easier if the officers-in-charge of police districts (OCPDs) did their job. To be fair, it is difficult for the officer in charge of the Setapak police station to know what a policeman's locker contains. But if JIPS can do a spot check, surely the officer-in-charge can do even a more frequent probe. The officer-in-charge must know his men and women in blue. Period.
The inspector-general of police is right to tell the OCPDs and supervisors in the force elsewhere to investigate, report or leave. A leader who doesn't know his men and women is no leader. It can even be dangerous to the OCPDs and the team as we have learned lately of senior police officers being in cahoots with notorious gangs.
All for the sake of money, luxury goods and other pleasures. Evasion and inaction by the OCPDs against such officers is dereliction of duty. Not only the police force is put under threat, but also the country.
With the borrowed words of the inspector-general of police, we tell them: act or leave. It is easy to paint the entire police force with the same brush, especially in a moment of anger or frustration.
There are good men and women there, too, who so willingly give their lives to keep us safe. The trick is to tell the difference. The police must help us do this.