KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 – The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) is considering allowing its staff to use taser guns in their daily operations, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador.
This would reduce the necessity of using firearms, especially when dealing with aggressive or amuk persons.
“PDRM does not want to shoot anyone and wants to resolve issues without loss of life, such as when dealing with persons under the influence of drugs who will be aggressive, so we want to only use taser guns to resolve these cases.
“Although the use of taser guns have been introduced before this, not many were provided to police staff, and most were of poor quality,” he told Bernama at Bukit Aman here.
Abdul Hamid said taser guns had a specific lifespan which depended on its quality.
“So if possible, PDRM wants to acquire taser guns like those used by the police in America which are durable,” he said.
Abdul Hamid also said PDRM was in the process of acquiring body cams for police on patrol duty, especially in city areas.
“After this, all police patrol cars will also be equipped with cameras, and police staff with body cams as they will be interacting with the public,” he said.
He added that the body cams were approved by the previous government.
On the preparations for the 15th General Election, Abdul Hamid stressed that PDRM was always prepared and had its standard operating procedure to face it.
Sources: BERNAMA