PBK president: Police should place sentries at stations, not close gates after 10pm

Voon Lee Shan

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, July 14: The police should consider placing sentries at their stations and not resort to closing gates after 10pm, says Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan.

He was commenting on the recent announcement by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail that the gates of police stations nationwide will be closed after 10pm, a measure taken following the attack on the Ulu Tiram police station in Johor, which claimed the lives of two police officers.

However, Voon pointed out that the new rule would give the impression that the police seem unable to take care of their own safety and security even inside police stations, which would stir the public trust in their ability to ensure security in public places.

He said police stations are considered the safest place, and there is no reason people dare to attack police stations if policemen, who are trained in handling security matters, maintain discipline in their jobs.

“We could see policemen were all armed, even inside the police stations. In fact, arms carried inside the police station could already scare people into going into police stations to seek help.

“Instead of closing the gates, police should place sentries and do proper checking or inspection of people coming in and out of the police stations.

“We could see there are guard houses at the gates of the police stations, but if there are no sentries at the guard house or if sentries are not doing their job at the guard house, police should take the blame themselves if undesirable elements attack police stations,” he said in a statement today.

He also mentioned that closing the gates would cause inconvenience to the public seeking help in times of distress or when there is an emergency.

On July 9, Saifuddin in Parliament, said police station gates nationwide would be closed after 10pm as a security measure following the recent attack at the Ulu Tiram police station.

The following day, his ministry issued a statement announcing that police reports could still be made even if the gates were closed after 10pm.

In a separate news report on July 10, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said that the implementation of the 10pm closure currently involved police stations in remote or rural areas. — DayakDaily