Nancy Shukri, the minister for women, family and community development, said the ministry would continue to press for the creation of the new department.

The proposal would be more holistic, she said after visiting a children’s interview centre set up by the police.

She said the police urgently needed the latest computer equipment as well as additional staff to deal with sexual offences and offences against women and children. An updated system involving large and sophisticated data storage was needed to deal with cases, including pornographic crimes.

Such offences are handled by the D11 division of the criminal investigation department (CID).

CID director Abdul Jalil Hassan said several more children’s interview centres would be built, two centres each in Sarawak and Sabah, and one in Pahang, because of the large population. The police have 14 centres at present.

The centres were established in 2002 for police to take statements from children who are victims of criminal cases such as rape and abuse.