POLICE MEET WITH DISABILITY GROUPS
An interesting Dialogue Session was held between the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and representatives from several disability groups at the Department of Social Welfare Malaysia (JKM) this morning, chaired by its Director General Dato' Meme Zainal Rashid. The need for this dialogue was requested by a disabled member of the National Council on Disability Mr. Mah Hassan Omar, at their last meeting in August, who highlighted the rising spate of crimes against disabled persons nationwide.

The quick response by JKM in arranging for the dialogue is indeed welcome, and rightly so in compliance with the six National Key Result Areas (NKRA) in the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) announced by our Prime Minister recently, first of which is the reduction of crime rate. To have disabled persons' interests and safety included in this IS a rare first!! Yes, we are also a part of the community who need protection and a safe environment.

The police were represented by a seven member team comprising heads of the various departments, including the Commercial Crimes Division, Criminal Investigation Dept and D11 Division for Sexual Offences and Offences against Children.

Among the issues brought up in the two-hour discussion were : problems faced by the blind in making a police report, particularly in describing the suspect; communication problems when the deaf go to the police station to make a report; dilemma of disabled victims where the perpetrators of crimes are family members or those who are in authoritative positions in charge of institutions or caring centres and the general safety of disabled persons in public areas.

The police also informed of several cases where the perpetrators were disabled persons. For this disabled representatives requested that police lock-ups and detention centres be made accessible and barrier-free.

Disability groups recommended that Disability Equality Training be given to police personnel as part of their in-service training. This will enable them to be sensitive to the needs of disabled persons and serve them accordingly. The police and JKM responded positively to this recommendation and agreed to work out a plan of action to implement it.