Malaysia: Only One Per Cent Of Policemen On The Take - IGP

KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (Bernama) -- Only one per cent out of about 100,000 policemen were reported to be taking bribes, said Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar. He said although the number was small, but if left unchecked it could spread like cancer. "It is always regrettable to hear someone say many policemen are corrupt. This is not good," he told reporters after the launch of the Police-NKRA Reject Bribery posters here Wednesday. Ismail said he would strive to inculcate zero corruption culture in the police force and urged the public to lodge reports against corrupt policemen. He also said that he was satisfied with performance of the Police Disciplinary Department, which was set up in the 80's, in combating police misconduct, including corruption. In his speech, Ismail said four kinds of corruption were identified in developed countries which could impede the integrity of enforcement agencies. They are corruption involving individuals on a small scale, bureaucratic corruption, criminal corruption and politic corruption, he said. "I am very disappointed and sad every time I get a report about a police officer or a policeman being involved in corruption, especially when they go viral on the internet either in print media, blog postings or video clips like YouTube," he said. Meanwhile, Bukit Aman NKRA Corruption director Hisham Nordin said 157 police officers filed reports against bribe givers last year. -- BERNAMA