Speaking at the Melaka Tengah police headquarters today, Anwar said the men in blue must operate with a high level of professionalism and avoid acts that could tarnish the country’s reputation.
“Just a few days ago, the Inspector-General of Police reprimanded police officers involved in corruption and abuse of power cases,” he said in a Bernama report.
“He told me that the number is small. But even if the number is relatively small, it still gives a bad image of the police force as a whole.
“So, I ask for your cooperation to try and improve our country’s image.
“Malaysia has an excellent record in many ways, but the country’s image is also tainted by cases of power abuse and corruption.”
This comes in the wake of three traffic policemen arrested in Perak last month to facilitate an investigation into a case involving a British couple who was allegedly offered a “discount” for speeding.
The incident came to light after the couple shared a dashcam video of the incident on their YouTube channel “TREAD the globe”, in which a traffic policeman accused them of driving at 80kph in a 60kph zone and said he had to issue them a summons.
He then offered to “reduce” the RM300 summons, which he said could be paid at a police station, to an on-the-spot “fine” of RM100.
Plug leakages, recover missing assets
Apart from reminding the police that wasteful practices in government expenditure needed to be stopped, Anwar also urged all enforcement agencies to work hard in recovering missing funds and assets.
Yesterday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said Malaysia had recovered more than RM23.9 million in assets and funds linked to 1MDB between 2023 and February 2024.
In a statement, the anti-graft agency said it had recovered that amount through forfeiture processes, court proceedings and the voluntary surrender by five people.
“Please understand why I am firm on this issue (leakages),” said Anwar.
“I don’t want to compromise because I want to save the country.
“The country can save RM10 billion to RM15 billion if we stop leakages.”