Miri Resort City.com | MiriCity.my - Crime fighting

Drug Arrests : A Shocking 476 Person Arrested Since Start of Year 2011

Fri, 5 Aug 2011 10:37:41 +0800

The Miri Police Narcotics division investigated 349 drugs related cases from Jan 1 to July 31 of this year. Four hundred and seventy-six (476) people were arrested for their involvement in drugs in Miri in the first six months of this year (2011). Miri police chief ACP Jamaludin Ibrahim disclosed this during the ‘Program Polis Bersama Masyarakat’ yesterday.

Drug involvement-related Arrests Jan-July 2011

476

If this isn't a shocking number, then what is?

There was no public statement or it was not reported on the news on what the police are doing to curb this, or what is being done. What does this say about the state of drug crime related activities in Miri?

Source

Statistics : Water Meter Theft For the Year 2009

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:47:46 +0800

Statistics for water meter theft for the year 2009 in major towns and cities in Sarawak:

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Miri ranks first in amount of reported case.

Month	Miri	Bintulu	Limbang	Kuching	Sibu
Jan	7	1	0	17	17
Feb	4	0	0	13	14
Mar	4	1	0	12	3
Apr	4	0	0	8	17
May	4	0	0	13	1
June	3	3	0	8	2
July	5	1	0	4	9
Aug	5	1	0	11	40
Sept	9	0	0	14	43
Oct	13	0	0	15	10
Nov	49	0	0	19	12
Dec	180	0	0	8	0
Total	287	7	0	142	168

Source: United Daily News

Note: The costs for replacement of water meters are RM65 +/- each.

17th November 2009 - Bruneian Woman Victim Of Smash Gang In Miri

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:33:43 +0800

Bruneian Woman Victim Of Smash Gang In Miri

Last Updated on Monday, 16 November 2009 09:33 Written by Rosli Abidin Yahya Monday, 16 November 2009 08:09

Bandar Seri Begawan - Travellers to Miri are told to bi extra vigilant after another car owned by Bruneian had its side screen smashed wit] a blunt object.

A handbag was stolen from the car by an unidentified man who ran towards his partner waiting on a motorbike in front o the victim's car.

The incident happened in front of shop houses near a fast-food restaurant at 8 pm last week.

Source

My take :

If there has got to be one word to describe this, it's "consistency".

1st October 2009 - Rape of Penan Women by Rural Timber Workers did NOT Occur - say what now?

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 08:58:13 +0800

A 22-year-old Penan woman has lodged a police report claiming that she was tricked into going to Kuala Lumpur and telling the police that she had been raped by a logger.

The woman, from Long Item, said two men approached her at home last October and offered to bring her to Kuala Lumpur to seek treatment for her daughter, who was ill at the time.

...

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) said there was a strong possibility that some Penan women from Ulu Baram who were said to have been raped by loggers were living under tremendous pressure.

SAM field officer for Sarawak said the women might have been pressured to make public statements that they have not been raped or victimised.

More at Source

My take:
So which is it?? There's always things happening like this when the cases are huge - claims of one thing and suddenly another claim that it wasn't true, it was all a conspiracy.

This is a follow up to the previous news.

11th Sept 2009 - Rape of Penan Women by Rural Timber Workers did Occur

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:23:31 +0800

Rape of Penan women did occur

It has been confirmed that Penan girls and women were raped and molested by timber company workers in Sarawak’s Ulu Baram district.

A special committee, set up by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, revealed that sexual abuses against Penan women and girls by timber workers as reported by The Star last year did take place in the Baram district.

More at Source

18th August 2009 - Widespread killing of primates in Sarawak

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:44:55 +0800

Widespread killing of primates in Sarawak

MIRI: Native folks and some city dwellers are slaughtering primates – in some cases mother and baby – to have them as exotic meat which is said to ‘‘very tasty�?.

These practices are widespread and despite repeated complaints and reports to the State Wildlife Department and State Forestry Department, it seems to be getting worse.

In northern Sarawak, the killing of primates has become a “normal�? practice in rural longhouses.

....When The Star reported a case of a native trader selling a monkey in a small cage near the city bus station to a Miri Wildlife Department investigating officer, his response was: “I am off today. I will tell my boss about it.�?

The next day, when asked what had happened to the case and why no enforcement officers showed up at the scene, this investigating officer replied: “I don’t know�?.

More at Source

It seems that no one has learned a lesson from the last episode, (see "Tycoons buying endangered animals as 'status symbols'").

Typical of nonchalant attitude of authorities, cases are "left forgotten" and famous words uttered, "I don't know".

17th August 2009 - Car and snatch theft syndicate crippled

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:26:43 +0800

MIRI, Mon: Miri police have cripped a syndicate believed to be responsible for several car and snatch thefts, and housebreakings, here and in Bintulu in the last six years with the arrest of seven of its members in an operation last weekend.

More here.

Good work! But ensure that it stays that way please? Usually the day after news like this, I'll open up the papers to find news of more of the bad news. I try not to think about it tomorrow.

16th May, 2009 - $41K crime spree

Sat, 16 May 2009 15:21:50 +0800

MIRI : More than a hundred thousand ringgit - that is how much a snatch thief managed to amass from his thieving spree on the streets of Miri city.

However, his life of crime came to an end yesterday when two civil servants saw him snatching a handbag containing RM37,000 from an elderly woman who had just walked out of a bank.

They chased after him on their motorcycles for about a kilometre before kicking him and causing him to fall off his bike.

Investigations carried out by Miri police found that the snatch thief had managed to make a lucrative living by targeting women, especially those who had just withdrawn money from banks.

The snatch thief is a foreigner who had managed to enter Sarawak frequently over the past four years.

Source

Though not really recommended, but sometimes going head to head against criminals IS a good thing.

This story is reminiscent of this one late last year.

P.S. I don't know why there is a variation in the amount figures on the title and in the content but that's how the article was written.

13th May 2009 - Call to make Miri safe for tourists?

Tue, 12 May 2009 09:38:56 +0800

News article: Call to make Miri safe for tourists

KUCHING: Sarawak's Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng has called for quick action to stop criminals in Miri from targeting visitors from Brunei.

"The theft of tourists' cars from a neighbouring state is worrying," he said when he opened the first sitting of the state assembly yesterday.

"If this crime is not checked, it will affect the image of Sarawak as a prime tourist destination."

Abang Muhammad called on police to beef up security in places visited frequently by tourists.

State Tourism Minister Datuk Michael Mayin said in response that the situation in Miri, which had 1.5 million visitors from Brunei last year, had improved greatly.
"The police in Miri only told me last Friday that there was not even one theft of Brunei-registered cars in the last few months," he said outside the assembly.

"Crimes committed against Brunei citizens had also declined. Security has improved tremendously and I am going to Brunei after the sitting of this assembly to give our guarantee that the security in Miri is doing well.

"It may be the case a year or two ago but but not any more," Mayin said.

He blamed envious Brunei businessmen, who see their countrymen heading to Miri every weekend to do their shopping, for continuing to fan stories that Miri was dangerous to visit.

Stories of Miri being unsafe had impacted tourist arrivals from Brunei. Miri recorded a drop of about 10 per cent in arrivals last year compared with 2007."

Source

My take:

"Quick action to stop criminals in Miri"? Where have we heard of this before? Oh yeah, last year. And the year before that. And before that.

And the fact that the Bruneians are using chartered BUSES to come to do their shopping instead of driving their cars (or driving really old cars to Miri) had A LOT to do with not one case of stolen car.

Please see the emphasized sentence in bold: What a preposterous response. The only reason why Bruneians so fear this place called "Miri" is because it really is a crime-infested city! Otherwise why would they have reason to fear it?

As I've posted in the previous blog post, even Mirians get victimized, not just Bruneians. I've had my car broken into when not parked 20 feet away from me before, and nothing was stolen because nothing was inside! And my parents' car, even in the form of a rundown old Proton, got stolen too! Soon after that, THEIR friends' office got ransacked.

If this occurs to MIRIANS, then what more the BRUNEIANS?

If there is a significant drop in crime today as compared to "a year or two" ago, then "a year or two" ago crime must've been insanely high.

...and there's still no police presence in and around town! Full of talk, no action. Show us more of what are being done, less on excuses and make us feel safe enough to go shopping or even stay at home without worries about robbery or cars getting broken into. Currently, I am not about to take it easy just yet, as I am sure others would be feeling the same as well.

7th May 2009 - Beware Of Precious Stone Scam In Miri

Thu, 7 May 2009 14:56:55 +0800

Bruneian travellers to the border town of Miri are advised to be alert if a person approaches them with a precious stone from a coconut fruit. A traveller said that he went to a popular shopping centre there with his mother when, on his way to the restroom, he was approached by such a man.

"I noticed a few guys were following me around as I accompanied my mother window shopping. When I asked her to take a seat at a fast food restaurant so that I can go to the restroom, a person approached me with a white precious stone embedded inside an already opened coconut fruit. The man then asked me for the nearest jewellery shop where he could fix the stone on a ring.

"Suddenly, out of nowhere, another person who had been following me approached us and began talking about the rare stone. They tried to give me the impression that it could fetch a high price due to its uniqueness and rarity," he said.

However, the traveller from Brunei quickly got wind of the scam and, as the two men began following him around, he took refuge at a police counter at the commercial building. --

[ Source]

Yet another scam. I'm amazed there isn't any sort of crackdown on these things by the police... But of course, there isn't much police presence anyway too. Unless you talk about the ever-so-popular police/JPJ roadblocks that don't catch any scammers.

ONCE again, these things keep happening.

5th May 2009 - Miri Victim Testifies: Shame On Them!

Tue, 5 May 2009 17:01:53 +0800

Last month I went with my wife and daughter to Miri. We went there to send our German friend to a guesthouse near Imperial Hotel.

Realizing that there were few cars parked not far from the guesthouse (15-20m away), I did not hesitate to park my car there. After helping our friend to check in, we decided to have our lunch at Imperial Foodcourt. Since it was not that far, we walked. After lunch, we found that it was raining heavily. So we had to stay a little while longer hoping that the rain would eventually stop.

After an hour, I told the rest that I would just take the car and pick them up in front of the shopping complex. Soon as I got to the place where I parked, I found to my horror that rear window (back seat) had been broken into. Without wasting any time, I hurried back to my family and my friend. I told them what had
happened and asked them if there's anything valuable that they had left in the car.

Yes, my daughter left an HP laptop with her school books and pen drive together in a bag. She hid it under the seat. Unfortunately, it was gone. We also noticed that by the time we reached to the area of the incident, not even a car was parked near ours! They had all mysteriously vanished! Was this some kind of trick???

Also, there were few people who were standing next to our car. They told us that they saw our car window had been broken. A guy wearing a shirt labeled 'Kastam' introducing himself as Karim, who came from Sibu helped us to make a police report.

Few minutes later he told me that the police rang him and asked us to bring our car to the police station. My wife was curious of as to why would we should be the one who send the car. Supposedly the police should came by and investigate what’s going on! And so my wife didn't believe this guy.

We insisted to just stay where we were. A few minutes later, the police came by. So, was this guy just pretending to be a good person? We're not so sure and we can't just blame him without proving. Still, he looked like a guilty person. We know we were careless. But this should serve as a warning to others. Unfortunately a few unscrupulous people are brining shame on Miri.

Source

Even the Mirians get victimized every now and then too. The lackluster security enforcement to blame. Sigh. It's always the same story. These things never change for the better in Miri.

Plantation workers nabbed for staging hijacking, robbery

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:28:44 +0800

MIRI: Three palm-oil plantation workers in the rural sub-district of Niah have been arrested for staging a hijacking and robbery of a cargo truck belonging to their company.

The three men, aged in their 30s, were arrested by the Miri police on Saturday.

One of the three, who was a driver for the company, had last Wednesday lodged a police report claiming that he was robbed and beaten up by a group of armed robbers while delivering a cargo assignment from Batu Niah to Bintulu.

He claimed that his truck, laden with harvest and fertilisers, was hijacked by the bandits after he was beaten up and abandoned along the Sarawak Second Coastal Highway some 120kms south of here.

In the course of their investigation, Miri police found details that were deemed suspicious.

The police suspected that the driver could have tried to capitalise on the fears of armed robberies and hijackings along the highway to allegedly stage his own coup so that he could cheat his company management of the vehicle and the cargo, worth more than RM100,000.

Police investigators arrested the driver and two other workers who are believed to have assisted him in carrying out the fake robbery after a probe with the company management.

Miri police chief Asst Comm Jamaluddin Ibrahim confirmed the arrests.

“The suspects will be charged with lodging a false police report. We recovered the truck and the cargo after interrogating them,�? he said.

The entire stretch of the 220km-long highway between Miri and Bintulu is dotted by huge oil-palm estates, some of them measuring up to 20,000 hectares in size.

The highway had last year notched up a reputation as the “highway of fear�? following a series of armed robberies and hijackings involving gas tankers, cargo trucks and civilian vehicles.

[ Source ]

10th March 2009 - "Miri needs to enhance safety of its visitors"

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:35:27 +0800

Miri needs to enhance safety of its visitors
By Azlan Othman
More and more Bruneians are now embarking on the six-hour drive to Kota Kinabalu for their leisurely getaway and shopping excursions, turning away from their once favourite destination Miri, which is merely a two-hour drive away.

Mirians need to give priority to the safety and security of tourists and their properties if they want to continue attracting visitors from Brunei.

Malaysian Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Michael Manyin said this in view of the scores of Bruneians who are now heading for Kota Kinabalu.

Additionally, an article in the Borneo Post recently read, "It is high time Miri ensures Bruneians keep coming to this city.'

Meanwhile, RBA reported that during its travel fair, a great number of Bruneians were looking to stay and shop at the new 1Borneo Shopping Centre in KK, which also houses hotels.

"Miri is only about a two-hour drive from Brunei, while it takes roughly six hours to get to Kota Kinabalu," Manyin said, adding that it is important that both visitors and tourists be assured of their safety and security during their stay there.

"It cannot be denied that incidents such as mugging of tourists happens everywhere and not only in Miri.

"Cases of vehicles of tourists being stolen or scratched can deter tourists from coming here although Miri is a cheaper and worth-the-money destination," he added.

Throwing a challenge to Mirians to enhance safety and security, Manyin admitted that it would be impossible to eliminate criminals or criminal activities, but believed they could help reduce or minimise crime.

"We should not leave this matter entirely to the police," he said when launching the Mulu World Heritage Art Foundation.

[ Source ]

We should not leave it entirely to the police? Uh, then how?

There are already previous examples of citizen's arrest but that's only because these people were the victims of crime and are determined to catch the thieves.

But because the police simply don't project a strong presence around Miri (as compared to Kuching), does our tourism minister mean that we go arm ourselves and take out the criminals on own?? Like that would happen.

CCTVs in the Streets of Miri, and Renovation Advice by the Mayor

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 11:44:41 +0800

MIRI: Owners of buildings here are reminded to obtain approval from Miri City Council (MCC) and other relevant authorities before doing extensions and renovations on their property.

The advice came from Miri Mayor Lawrence Lai. The council Had observed a rising number of illegal structures and extension being done by property owners in industrial, commercial and residential areas here.

Lai said the city council will intensify its monitoring and enforcement work to clamp down on illegal buildings and extensions in Miri.

Therefore it is important for an owner to acquire approval from the city council, Land and Survey Department and Fire and Rescue Department by submitting a proper plan on additional structures on their property.

Speaking to reporters in his office yesterday, Lai called for cooperation from building and property owners in this matter to avoid misunderstanding with the authority concerned.

Meanwhile Miri City Council will hold a meeting with Miri Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, financial institutions and shopping complexes here on security aspect on their premises.

On the agenda will be installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) in and around their premises. The CCTV will be connected directly to the police station for monitoring and quick action should criminal activity be detected on their property.

The council will seek the agreement of all parties concerned before presenting the proposal to the police for implementation.

[ Source ]

On the CCTVs linked to police stations, that I think is a good move, but an even better move is to mobilize the police to patrol the area on foot! What better way to discourage crime with constant police presence? They already do this in Kuching, but in Miri you see none of this.

CCTVs have proven to be successful as evidence and to a certain degree as crime deterrent in major cities, but it would be useless if the crime had happened and CCTV footage are too unclear to provide sufficient evidence or the perpetrator simply escaped and went into hiding.

There are a number of crimes happenning in Miri that have been caught red-handed on CCTV, but some of these criminals have never been captured or there are no further news on the developments of it. See example.

30th December 2008 - "Mall Outing Turns To Terror In Miri"

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:35:02 +0800

Miri - Three Bruneians who went shopping in Miri last weekend will think twice about going down south again, after becoming victims of an alleged beating outside one of the malls there.

According to a relative, the man and two women were just coming out of their parking spot, when a car came speeding out of nowhere and hit their vehicle. When they came out to confront the driver of the other vehicle and to negotiate what to do next, the four men became violent.

One of the four men went back into their vehicle and rammed their car again twice.

One of the women went into the car and started to honk the horn to attract attention for assistance from passers-by but was dragged out of the car by one of the four men. The Bruneian man was beaten up and the two women were dragged and slapped.

The three were able to run into their car and immediately rushed to the nearest police station to lodge a report.

As a security precaution, the three Bruneians were then escorted back by the police all the way to the Malaysian Immigration post on their way home.

[ Source ]

My take: Road rage? Sooner or later we need to look into this seriously, and I wonder if police are trained to recognize and react accordingly to these kinds of possibilities.