Police shot dead 327 criminals in 193 cases over past decade, Dewan told

Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says such shootings largely occurred in situations requiring the takedown of dangerous criminals or in self-defence.

In a written parliamentary reply, the minister said police generally took such actions in situations requiring the takedown of dangerous criminals.

He said police also shot suspects in self-defence when they attacked officers with dangerous weapons, to protect public safety and avoid injury or loss of life when suspects refused to surrender, as well as in other situations that “required quick action based on immediate threat analysis by officers on the ground”.

Saifuddin was replying to Lim Lip Eng (PH-Kepong), who asked for a breakdown of fatal police shootings since 2015 by nationality, race and state, as well as the number of police officers subjected to legal action.

He said by nationality, Malaysian citizens accounted for the highest number of criminals shot dead at 172 people, followed by 68 Indonesians, 24 Vietnamese, 23 Filipinos, seven Myanmar nationals, three Africans, two Bangladeshis and one Thai.

“A total of 27 people were recorded as having no identification,” he said.

According to a breakdown by race among Malaysians, 78 Indians were shot dead, followed by 43 Malays, 40 Chinese and 11 Bumiputeras.

Selangor recorded the highest number of police shooting cases at 47, followed by 33 in Sabah, 21 in Penang, 19 in Johor and 16 in Perak.

Other states recorded fewer incidents: 13 in Kedah, 10 in Kuala Lumpur, nine in Kelantan, eight in Sarawak, seven in Negeri Sembilan, four in Melaka, three in Terengganu, two in Pahang and one in Perlis.