Malaysian police investigate woman’s confrontation with condescending officer during report filing

MALAYSIA: On October 7, an X user by the name “fiqapong“, shared her account of an alleged encounter with a condescending police officer while filing a police report.

The woman opted to file a police report after narrowly avoiding a collision with an intoxicated driver in Ipoh who just left a restaurant on Friday (6 Oct) around 11:19 pm.

Thankfully, neither the woman nor her friends suffered any injuries.

However, she did observe the intoxicated driver striking the divider on two occasions before departing.

Concerned for her own safety, she decided to file a police report as a precautionary measure.

However, she found the officer’s reaction quite puzzling when he asked, “If he didn’t hit your car, why are you here making a report?”

She was thoroughly displeased with the way the question was posed to her, as she perceived the police officer’s tone as condescending.

“The police’s tone and the audacity to ask such a question is beyond me,” she said in a thread under her post.

The woman also criticized the pub owner for allowing the intoxicated individual to drive home when it was evident that he was in no condition to do so.

Then, the woman conveyed her desire for the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) to treat this matter with the seriousness it warrants.

As of the time of writing, fiqapong’s post has accumulated 2.2 million views.

Saw an uncle drunk driving tonight, could barely stand/walk let alone drive. Literally langgar all the divider while driving. And when I made a police report, the first question asked was “dia ada langgar awak ke? dah tak langgar kenapa perlu buat report?” pic.twitter.com/URSYijRhXM

— fiqapong (@fiqapong) October 6, 2023

PDRM’s response

PDRM swiftly addressed the issue. On the same day as the tweet, they released a statement.

ACP Yahaya Bin Hassan, the Chief Police of Ipoh, expressed that his team takes the matter very seriously and values the woman’s feedback through her post.

“We have forwarded the issue to the Department of Integrity & Standard Compliance at the Ipoh police station for a thorough investigation,” he stated.

He also provided assurance to the public that the matter is presently under investigation, cautioned the public against making any speculations concerning the matter, and urged them to await the results of the police investigation.

Netizens express their anger towards the officer’s unprofessional behaviour

The majority of netizens commented that the officer’s statement was unprofessional and voiced their anger toward the officer.

There are also some netizens who shared they had similar experiences.

The netizen shared, “One time, I called the patrol police because I wanted to report that there was a drunk driver on Kuala Road.”

The officer replied, “So, what do you want me to do?”

Meanwhile, there are also some netizens who pointed out that this case does not require a police report.

Another netizen commented, “You can only make a police report if there is an accident. If there is no accident, you should file a complaint with the police so they can send a patrol car to apprehend the intoxicated driver. Dial 999 and inform them that you encountered a drunk driver who nearly collided with your vehicle.”

A netizen also commented that the officer’s choice of words was incorrect.

“Instead of asking why she was making a police report if there was no collision, the officer should have instructed the woman to call 999 to report the situation.”