KUALA LUMPUR: The Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) has received 348 complaints within the first year of implementation, says Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Of this, he said, seven cases were under investigation.
As for the nature of the seven cases, he said this included an officer complaining to their higher-ups, sexual harassment, lack of action over a complaint lodged previously and integrity issues where compromise was allegedly made concerning the recruitment for the inspector’s post.
He was responding to a question by Ramkarpal Singh (Pakatan Harapan-Bukit Gelugor) in the Dewan Rakyat on the complaints received by the IPCC and the effective measures taken to handle the complaints against police officers.
In a supplementary question later, Ramkarpal had also asked whether the government had plans to give the IPCC more bite similar to the powers of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) and the proposals made under the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) to handle complaints against police officers.
“A law is dynamic and not static and the IPCC just came into effect a year ago. I believe the more rational approach would be to give the IPCC time and space to perform,” he said.
He said at this juncture, the government believes that the IPCC is sufficient.
However, he said the law will be reviewed if there is a need in the future.
The IPCC, came into effect in July 2023, after the long-proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Act was tabled by the Pakatan Harapan government in 2019.
However, the IPCMC Act was scuttled when that administration collapsed in 2020.
