P Sundramoorthy from Universiti Sains Malaysia said the poor public perception of law enforcement could only be reversed by appointing strong leaders with high integrity.

“Enforcement is about the rule of law. Weak organisational structure and leaders lead to corruption. That is why strong leadership and proactive techniques for investigations are needed,” he told FMT.

He also recommended that a thorough background check be done on candidates before they are hired as department heads.

“Once the present government is settled, they need to review their policies relating to appointing heads of agencies in the police, customs, maritime, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, immigration and others.”

He said these bodies would then need to establish a supervisory committee consisting of representatives from enforcement bodies, academics and people with high integrity.

Recommendations from this panel can then be forwarded to the relevant minister to end corruption within these bodies.

Sundramoorthy said those caught carrying out acts of corruption should be charged with committing a criminal offence. Investigations can be carried out internally, he added, but both the case and the action taken by the committee should be reported.

As for the police, which is the biggest enforcement body, he said the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission needed to be established to look into any misconduct.

“There should be no excuse for delaying the setting up of this commission, which should be run by people of integrity.”

He said sound and effective training should be given to law enforcement officers throughout their careers, with recruitment based solely on merit.

“Nepotism, cronyism and favouritism must be eliminated at all costs when it comes to recruitment.”

Police inspector jailed 6 years, fined for 2 corruption charges