Mark Twain, among others, said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies,
damned lies, and statistics." This is a phrase defining the cogent clout
of numbers, chiefly the use of statistics by politicians to shore up
their weak points of view.
Government statistics may not be the true reflection of crime status
when real figures on crime rates can sometimes send shivers down the
people’s spine.
Using flawed statistics on crime rates is possibly UMNO-led government’s another attribute to face the next general election.
Don’t entirely blame the police
“We don’t entirely blame the police. We blame UMNO politicians who want
to paint a healthy-looking image to the people that crime rates have
plunged,” said a crime observer. “When politicians get into the
equation, the police can be subjugated and no truth will prevail. This
does not bode well for the ordinary citizens.” he added.
Malaysians in general do not feel safer in the streets, public places
and even the privacy of their homes regardless of all the publicity
about Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and National Key Result
Areas including reducing crime.
The fear of crime has become more intense resulting in the burgeoning of
gated and guarded communities in residential zones. The spate of brazen
attacks by criminals on innocent people of late is frightening. Robbery
is in vogue that most citizens have witnessed with their own eyes these
days.
There appears to be a crime seismic jolt on the ground but the
government is still in a denial mode and they start flaunting
disbelieving statistics to confuse the people.
“What are crime statistics for when people still live in fear,” asked a
university student in Shah Alam. “We feel insecure staying in our rented
apartment and we feel unsafe to drive or walk in the street,” she
added.
“It is an onus on the media to highlight crimes. This is the only way
for us to be more vigilant,” said another university student.
Drug traffickers and pushers
Apparently, people seem not to be able to escape from thugs, snatch
thieves, break-ins, armed robbers, rapists, kidnappers and murderers.
Worst is when crimes are committed by organised syndicates that have the
needed “connections” to do what they desire without being hounded by
the authorities.
Mat rempit-style of robbers – many among them are drug addicts –
continue to attack drivers and passers-by at traffic jams, in housing
estates, outside workplaces and offices. Between May and June this year,
the Petaling Jaya OCPD was reported to have said that here were 319
cases of smash-and-grab robbers. That's an average of at least five
cases a day in the Klang Valley – one of the many egregious crimes zones
in the country.
An estimated 350,000 people are addicted to drugs in Malaysia in 2012,
according to a report by Reuters. Due to a high rate of relapse in the
country, the number of drug addicts could rise to 500,000 in 2015. Back
in 2006, there were 19,369 people who were officially classified by the
government as drug addicts. Still, out of one reported case there can be
five that go unreported.
Drug traffickers and pushers are the crime syndicates that have ravaged these people.
Police statistics show that 30 to 40 percent of drug addicts are
involved in crimes such as robbery and rapes. As such, the government’s
role in eradicating the drug menace is crucial in the fight against
crime. Drug abuse still poses a major problem, particularly since those
aged between 15 and 40 make up 80 percent of the drug addicts. But what
has the sitting government done to alleviate this nuisance?
Car crime
Crime syndicates in some countries resort to buying off and paying off
enforcement officers. Corrupt officers have crumbled these nations when
criminal activities went spiral and out of control.
In the local setup, incidents of cars been stolen is rampant for a small
country like Malaysia. Vehicles are stolen and driven with ease to the
warehouse to be stripped. Many have been reported to be taken out of the
country also with ease. An average of 150 vehicles are stolen a day in
Malaysia, with 112,503 whisked away since 2010. A total of 57,462
vehicle thefts were reported in 2010 while the number was 55,041 as of
September 2011.
According to a report, in most cases money earned from vehicle thefts –
just like laundered money and money earned from the sprouting illegal
gambling dens and prostitutions – can be used to aid crimes, and used to
fund other criminal activities. Car crime is an organised crime – being
one of the usual ways of obtaining the money needed to finance the
whole criminal or even terrorist organisation. The sitting government
unfortunately has not earnestly addressed this issue.
Failed to safeguard women and children
Beyond that, daring robbers on motor cycles carrying assault weapons
smashing car windows to rob victims is too common a scene these days and
they are mostly women who end up as victims. These robbers ramble
through shopping malls, streets and isolated areas to look for their
victims. It seems like it is no more secure for women to drive these
days.
Many of these helpless women have even been injured, killed or raped.
Women have always been the main target of criminals both in the streets
and domestic scenes. There were 3,409 and 3,626 cases on raping in 2008
and 2009. As many as 11,809 or 73 percent of all rape cases reported in
Malaysia involved children aged 18 and below, and in most cases,
however, the crime is committed by people known to the victims because
they are family members such as fathers, stepfathers and uncles.
Crime against women and children has not abated. The statistics, from
2006 to 2010, 11,809 out of 16,159 rape victims were children, with 54
percent aged 16 and below, while another 19 percent were aged 16 to 18.
The sitting government has again failed to safeguard women and children
against such heinous crimes.
In the same period, there were 1,823 cases of sexual abuse and 60
percent of the cases were committed by fathers, stepfathers and close
relatives. As many as 431 child abuse victims were aged one to seven.
In many cases, victims of crime live in fear. They would not make police
report for fear that the criminals would return to harm them. And the
number of unreported cases will not be represented in official
statistics provided by the authorities.
No Malaysian should doubt Musa’s statement
Nationally, it was disclosed that in 2010 the number of crime cases
recorded was at 177,520 and it declined to 157,891 in 2011.The crime
rate reportedly dropped 10.1 per cent to 63,221 cases between January
and May compared to 70,343 cases over the corresponding period the
previous year.
But the former IGP (Inspector General of Police) Musa Hassan has
suggested that the police review the crime statistics to regain public
confidence and come up with the right numbers for public consumption.
“Is ‘tampering’ with figures a new phenomenon to propitiate the UMNO-led
government just because the general election is just around the
corner,” asked a senior former UMNO lawmaker.
After serving the country’s Royal Malaysian Police for 41 years and
ending his career as the IGP no Malaysian should doubt Musa’s statement.
The people are more convinced by his frank disclosure than what UMNO
politicians are preaching about crime statistics.
Musa even suggested that the government employ an independent party to
gauge the actual crime rate in the country. This proves more that the
statistics given by the government on crime is indeed questionable. It’s
not only the former IGP is saying that the crime rate is high. This
view is also shared by all and sundry.
He was quoted of saying, “To me, even if statistics showed a drop in
crime rate, if the public feels otherwise, something is wrong
somewhere.” Musa had earlier been quoted as saying that the authorities
were hiding facts from the public over the country’s crime rate and
claimed public security has reached a “worrying stage”.
Naturally, the people will believe and have more confidence in the
former top police officer of the country than an armchair politician
within the sitting government. Hiding crime figures is a heinous act, as
this will make the people complacent with feel-good statistics when the
actual situation is just inauspicious.
Not doing enough to tackle crime
“Why play with numbers to please the sitting government?” asked a snatch
victim in Wangsa Maju. She had her handbag snatched by two robbers
before she could get into her car one Sunday morning. “The issue of
crime is more than statistics. It’s more of perception and confidence.
When figures are often manipulated to give a feel-good weight on the
people, the public will lose confidence in the government,” she added.
“The people see, hear, experience or read about all sorts of crime
happening in the country. It only takes a few horrid criminal cases to
happen for the people to have the perception than the government is not
doing enough to tackle crime,” said another snatched victim. “They will
lose confidence in the authority,” she added.
Mere political rhetoric
Politicians are always on their rhetorical mood. Statistics for them is
more used as the political dole to dupe the people into thinking that
everything is hunky-dory with the sitting government. Urging the public
not to worry as the police will always ensure that the people are safe
from criminal threats is another political rhetoric.
Numbers can lie but not the people’s perception. Lowering figures to
please the people is not making them living without fear. In fact they
are living more fearful than ever. The government can claim that crime
rate is down by 26 percent but fear still looms among the people.
“What the government should do is to give an honest breakdown of all
crimes in the country on a daily basis so that people can see for
themselves the real situation. Get them published in the media. Make
this information public,” said a government officer.
Numbers do not correlate with one’s fear of crime. Numbers can be
manipulated but fear and perception remain a reality. In some countries
crime rate is manipulated for political reasons, as tampering with the
crime rate is one way to win votes in elections.
Failed to combat criminal activities
The UMNO-led government has actually failed to combat criminal
activities and also activities that indirectly attribute to crime such
as corruption and abuse of power. The spike in crime is due to the bad
economy of the lower income group of Malaysians.
The high costs of living and unemployment have further aggravated the
situation. The Malaysian economy is not supporting this deprived group
and they are finding it tough to survive. The spike in crime rate is
also mainly due to millions of foreigners entering Malaysia illegally.
All these are attributed to bad government policies.
UMNO-led government is not unravelling the right social equation. Crimes
are committed because of unresolved social ills, family breakdowns and
of course law enforcement measures that have not been tautened and
trailed uncompromisingly.
The people are not criticising the police to demoralise them but the
police of course could do more to combat crime if they are not tied down
with UMNO’s political agenda.
For all these whys and wherefores, the country needs a better government
that could watch over the direct and indirect causes of crime rates to
ensure that they decelerate. Escalating crime rates in the country will
certainly affect the country’s political equation. The people’s choice
next in our two-party system will be a government that can ensure a
crime-less society.
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