NEW YORK: FAILURE to take action or refusal to accept a police report could soon be offences under corrupt practices in the Royal Malaysian Police.

Others include the downgrading of criminal statistics, falsification of documents, off-duty misconduct, unauthorised employment and misuse of police assets.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said these offences could be classified as misconduct in the expanded definition of the term “corruption” in a new code being considered by the police, based on the model used by the New York Police Department (NYPD).

Zahid is here to study the best practices that have been adopted by NYPD, which has been largely successful in eradicating the scourge of corruption and abuse of power in the 35,000-strong force that polices one of the world’s biggest cities.

“Malaysia is learning the experience of NYPD in dealing with the issues of integrity and corruption,” Zahid, on a working visit here and to Washington DC, told Malaysian journalists here.

“We want to counter the negative perception of corruption in the police.”

He said NYPD had a grave corruption problem 20 years ago.

“But it has resolved it by taking several steps, including the setting up of a special commission and a department called the Internal Affairs Bureau in NYPD to handle police misconduct.”

The city’s authorities had set up the Commission to Combat Police Corruption (CCPC) in 1995 after an independent body investigating the affairs of NYPD found that the department had undergone alternating cycles of corruption and reform.

The authorities believed that the creation of an independent commission to monitor anti-corruption activities in NYPD and keep the department vigilant would help break the recurring cycles of corruption.

Zahid said he had met former NYPD chief Charles Campisi and CCPC members for talks on joint training and cooperation on related matters.

He said NYPD officials had visited Malaysia for that purpose.

“We may send our police officers for training with NYPD to learn about its best practices.

“We are taking more initiatives to deal with issues of integrity, including corruption, in the police.”

Towards this end, the police has set up the Integrity and Standards Compliance Department, which will be staffed by some 1,000 people.

“Besides dealing with the aspects of integrity and corruption, the setting up of the department will also address the negative perception of the police,” said Zahid.

He said this was over and above a special division on integrity that had been set up at the ministry.

Besides enforcing rules against misconduct in the police, Zahid said the government would also look into the welfare of policemen and officers, including their terms of services, as well as ensure better facilities in their working environment.

-NST