30th August 2008 - Massive sweep against crime, illegals in Miri

MIRI: More than 400 personnel from the police and other enforcement agencies carried out a massive offensive in northern Sarawak against criminals and illegal immigrants.

The operation headed by the police also involved immigration officials, the army and general operations force personnel.

Miri police chief Asst Comm Jamaluddin Ibrahim said that police stepped up anti-crime operations after Miri registered a sharp jump in the crime index lately.

“We carried out house-to-house searches and found it effective in flushing out crooks.

“We carried out raids in places where we identified our targets.

“Police personnel on foot patrols were deployed in the city to beef up our presence,” he said.

ACP JAmaluddin said that highway patrol units, tourist police and traffic police were used in areas short of staff.

“We searched 625 vehicles, 783 homes and dozens of entertainment outlets and made more than 200 arrests.

“The suspects are believed to be involved in various crimes in and around Miri,” he said after a recent briefing for Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh here.

ACP Jamaluddin said the police wanted to reduce the crime index of 15% to 5% by the end of the year.

He considered the 15% rate as high, noting that it had increased because of difficult economic times faced by certain people, which prompted them to resort to crime.

[ Source ]

My take:

Please keep it that way, not only just because crime skyrocketed. Thank you, Mr. Police.