RECENTLY, I went to the KLCC area with a friend to attend a meeting but we lost our way. While we were near the Ascot Hotel, about 6.30pm, a motorcyclist whizzed past me and the pillion rider grabbed my handbag.

Another friend, whom I had earlier telephoned for directions, found us in a daze after the snatch theft. He then took us in his car to look for the nearest police station.

It took an hour in the heavy traffic to get to the Jalan Tun Razak police station. There, I was told to go to the Dang Wangi police station to make a report. I was aghast. I had a lost my money, purse, car and house keys, documents and handphone. How was I to go on to another place?

Furthermore, I was told to go to the police headquarters (IPD) in Jalan Stadium for an interview with an investigating officer.

I refused and told the clerk that I wanted to make a report there (Jalan Tun Razak) but she kept repeating “this is our procedure and I can’t do anything. You can make a report here but you must go to Dang Wangi and IPD”.

I insisted that I could not go anywhere else, and she finally typed out my report. I also managed to speak to the investigating officer over the phone.

Why can’t the police make it easy for theft victims to lodge a report by allowing them to use any police station as a “one-stop centre”?

As I had lost many personal documents such as my driving licence, MyKad, credit cards and automated teller machine cards, I had to go from one place to another to apply for replacement cards the next day.

Despite the police report, I still had to pay fines at various departments and agencies.

In the course of all these, I met many other victims of snatch thieves, mostly women. All had the same story to tell. They were told to go from one police station to another to lodge reports and be interviewed by the investigating officer. These procedures do not seem helpful to the very people who are in need of help.

G. VIMALAH NAIR, Petaling Jaya

Source: NST – February 18, 2008