Rusli (left) presenting a certificate of appreciation to one of the officers.
MIRI: Sarawak has a total of 60 auxiliary police units with 2,874 members.
Datuk Rusli Ahmad, director of Department of Crime Prevention and Community Safety (JPJKK) of Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) Bukit Aman, disclosed this in his speech at the ceremony to present a certificate of approval for the establishment of Ibraco Berhad auxiliary police and certificates of appreciation to JPJKK officers, police reserve volunteers and auxiliary police personnel of Sarawak contingent here yesterday.
According to Rusli, 245 auxiliary police units had been approved under Section 47 of Police Act 1967 (Appointment of Auxiliary Police Officers) throughout Malaysia – Government agencies (32), statutory bodies (25), government-linked companies (49), local authorities (3), public education institution (10), private higher education institution (1) and private companies (125).
“Until now, the total number of auxiliary police personnel throughout Malaysia is 29,353, nearly one-third of the police force and this establishment is to help lighten PDRM’s workload by protecting the interests of the agencies or employers in safeguarding life, property and peace in their respective areas,” he added.
Rusli stressed that auxiliary police and PDRM should strengthen their strategic cooperation in crime prevention.
He regarded the ongoing collaboration and communication between PDRM and auxiliary police, be it at the contingent, local or station level, as noteworthy.
At the same time, Rusli urged all officers to maintain a high level of integrity, discipline and ethics and not do things that might give a bad image to the force.
“According to Rule 5(2), Police Regulations (Auxiliary Police) 1970, an auxiliary police shall be subject to the same disciplinary rules as a police officer of equivalent rank to him.
“Recovering an image of an organisation is not an easy task, it requires careful planning, takes a long time and high expenses while the damage and destruction of the image due to negative things happen so fast,” he said.
Saying the auxiliary police has existed since 1948, Rusli hoped that through their training auxiliary police will be able to assist the regular police force in safeguarding peace and security in the state.