He said the force was non-partisan and professional while also being independent in its operational affairs.
He said the view that it was politically influenced was a “matter of perception”.
“We carry out our duties in a professional manner. For now we are focussed on preserving the security and peace of the nation,” he said when asked to comment on calls by the opposition for him to make the force independent and neutral.
He was speaking at his first press conference following his appointment as IGP on Sept 4, after overseeing the handing over of duties to the new directors of the Special Branch, the Narcotics Investigation Department and the Criminal Investigation Department here today.
Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim had on Sept 4 called on Fuzi to depoliticise the force, citing it as among the urgent tasks that needed to be executed during the IGP’s first week in office in order to return the people’s confidence in the police.
The DAP legislator said Fuzi, who was promoted from the position of Special Branch chief, needed to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into police reform chaired by former chief justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah in 2004.
The RCI had, among other things, called for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to be set up to provide appropriate external check-and-balance on the police.
The government however did not take up the idea, as contained in the RCI’s report issued in 2005.