IT has once again been proven that the perceptions of policemen as unfriendly and unhelpful are not entirely true.

On the night of Jan 18, the new Muar police chief, Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Nasir Ramli, together with senior officers and about 30 policemen, paid a courtesy call on Taman Sri Maharani, Muar, under the Rakancop and community-policing concept.

In a short but meaningful talk with the residents, he expressed appreciation for the good response to Rakancop and community policing programmes, which were aimed at creating and nurturing a good working relationship between the police and the public.

He assured the residents that any initiative in crime prevention will receive the full support of his department.

In return, the residents are grateful to the Muar police department for its gesture of concern.

For it is not every day that a busy chief police officer will take time off to visit ordinary citizens, making house-to-house calls to get to know them better.

And the visit was done at a time (9-11pm) when most people should be home after a hard day’s work.

This goes to show that he takes the community policing concept seriously.

The residents are thankful for the list of names and telephone numbers of members of the Crime Prevention Unit.

It is pertinent to emphasise that crime prevention and public safety is a shared responsibility. It takes real commitment to be pro-active about it. Syabas, Muar police!

TAM YONG YUEE, Muar

Source: NST – January 23, 2008