KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are demonstrating extraordinary interest in joining the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) despite various reports regarding integrity issues of its personnel in recent times, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (pix).
Citing the example of recent recruitment for inspector positions, he said PDRM received 40,000 applications even though there were only 400 vacancies.
“So despite the chatter about police integrity, the reality is that when there are vacancies, people flock to apply and the quality among the applicants is very high.
“Some of them have the ability to speak multiple languages, possess professional qualifications, and some are already lawyers or in the process of practicing law,“ he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Rushdan Rusmi (PN-Padang Besar) who wanted to know whether the government intends to establish a Shariah-based stress prevention programme for police personnel with problems following several cases of deaths involving those under pressure.
Saifuddin Nasution said prevention efforts are always made continuously as early as possible starting from the recruitment process to ensure that such cases can be minimised.
He said this includes conducting psychological tests which are the responsibility of the Religious and Counseling Division (BAKA) of PDRM.
“BAKA is the division that manages (scrutinises) such matters including incidents (cases) in remote areas where there are indeed various work stress symptoms, sometimes due to transfers to new workplaces and they (police personnel) are not comfortable with the new work environment,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin Nasution said since December 2022, a total of 1,466 police officers and personnel have been disciplined for various offences including integrity issues.
Additionally, he said a total of 1,467 complaints have also been received by the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) as of March 15, covering various matters including corruption.