Police keep cases open

Wan: Once the IP is open, investigationscontinue and we go on and on until thecase is solved.

When a child goes missing, the police never give up on the case, says Federal CIDdirector Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee.

PARENTS all over Malaysia are now in aconstant state of vigilance with thetragic end of eight-year-old Nurin JazlinJazimin.

While her parents have to come to termswith her death after she went missing forclose to a month, the parents of 16 otherchildren under the age of nine – 10 boys andsix girls – on the police list of missing personsare still waiting for news.

So what do the police do when a child isreported missing?Once a report is made, an InvestigationWhen a child goes missing, the police never give up on the case, says Federal CIDdirector Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee.

Police keep cases openand the community as well as the need tobe more vigilant about the whereabouts andsafety of their children.”

According to the police, there are 16 otherchildren under the age of nine – 10 boys andsix girls – on their list of missing persons.

They disappeared between January andJuly this year, and have yet to be found.Rape cases involving children, meanwhile, isrecorded at 1,324 from January to July 2007,compared to 1,710 for the whole of 2006and 1,274 for 2005. With five months left inthe year to be accounted for, it is definitelyworrying.

This has prompted the police to set up anew unit specialising in sexual crimes,crimes against children and abuse (includingcases of domestic violence) and the VictimsCare Centre in May this year.

The new division, Sexual, Abuse and ChildInvestigation division or D11, does not onlyinvestigate reports but also counsels victims.

It was announced on Friday that trainedcounsellors will be hired to help with thesecases.

Yong nonetheless stresses that moreimportantly, the collaboration networkbetween the different agencies needs to bestrengthened.

“Different groups with different strengthsare good but we need to start collaborating.We all need to put the child's rights first.

“We need to look into their best interestin every situation. If that is sincere, all willfall into place naturally. We need to startlooking at impact instead of ad-hoc programmes,”