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Saturday November 20, 2010
Cops have ace up their sleeve
By RASHITHA A. HAMID
rashitha@thestar.com.my
KUALA LUMPUR: There is a mini casino in the Cheras police college but don’t bet on catching policemen gambling for real.
The mock casino is actually a training ground for policemen to wise up to the ways of gamblers and cheats.
“To catch a thief, we need to think like a thief,” said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar after launching the three new initiative plans at the police training college yesterday.
Learning to gamble: Inspector-General Tan Sri Ismail Omar (front row centre) getting some tips on how to play a card game from Genting Malaysia Bhd executive vice-president of resort operation Kevin Sim Kia Ju (front row right). In an effort to combat illegal gambling activities, the police have set up a mock casino at the police training centre in Cheras. ‘To catch a thief, we need to think like a thief,’ said Ismail.
Since 2000, the force had sent 318 officers for training by experts on gambling.
“By setting up this mini casino, we can train our men here instead,” he said.
In the mock casino, selected policemen are taught the various gambling games available in casinos and other entertainment outlets.
The policemen learn about the simple one-arm bandit right down to how the intricate card games are played.
In fact, there are gambling machines costing RM110,000 at the mock casino, sponsored by Genting Malaysia Bhd.
Full house: Policemen learning the various gambling games at the mini casino in the Cheras police college yesterday.
When asked what kind of “skills” the policemen had acquired, Ismail replied: “That is confidential information. We do not want the enemy to know what we know.”
To another question on whether he was afraid the trained men would abuse what they had learnt, Ismail said he put his faith in his men.
“Insya Allah (God willing), they will know their responsibilities and will not go against their badge,” he said.
At the event, Ismail also launched a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) manual and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) portal.
The SOP manual is meant as a reference for investigating officers, especially when they are investigating serious crimes such as murder, armed robbery, rape and assault.
Some 3,000 copies of the manual were printed and distributed to all CID and investigation officers on Sept 8.
The CID portal, meanwhile, can be used by CID officers to share reports and monitor cases that are under investigation.
“With the system, officers can cross-transfer information, reports and directives easily,” Ismail added.
He said that the portal also allowed for two-way communication between higher ranking officers and their subordinates.
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