About
Police
The Royal Malaysia Police Force is a centralised force with a number of roles ranging from traffic control to intelligence gathering. Ordinary police wear dark blue uniforms, incorporating berets or baseball caps. Whether or not they carry a sidearm depends on their assignment. Tourist police look similar and can be distinguished only by their shoulder patch. They are stationed in places frequented by visitors because they speak English and know their area of the city well. Highway police on motorcycles wear black riding trousers with black boots, a black Sam Browne belt and white shirts. When not wearing motorcycle helmets, they wear black baseball caps. At road blocks it is common to see them together with regular police. Highway police carry a sidearm. There are also undercover police in civilian clothes at work, particularly in areas where drugs are present.
Malaysia also has a Federal Reserve Unit which is called in during times when crowd control is required, such as a demonstration or other large public event. They are distinguished by red helmets and dark blue uniforms with prominent patches of red on their shirts.
There are also General Operations Forces including Special Action Units modelled on SWAT teams, and the Special Operations Force, a commando battalion for combating insurgents in the jungle (you are most unlikely to see these in the city). Both wear plain green uniforms, not camouflage.
Another branch is the rakan cop which means literally ‘friends of cops’. It is an auxiliary police force called in wherever needed to support the regular police. They have only a few police powers. For instance, they can hold suspects for the regular police, but not formally arrest them. They are often used for security, for protecting bank money transfers, and for crowd control. They wear a uniform of dark blue trousers and a light blue shirt. Their shoulder patch says ‘Rakan Cop’.
Many large residential building complexes, shopping malls, schools and other public areas employ private security services which come in a bewildering variety of uniforms. Their responsibility is security within and around their respective building complexes. Often the officers of these services do duty as traffic policemen outside their buildings in hours of congestion as well. They are not armed. Within their jurisdictions they can levy parking fines, clamp cars and hold people suspected of an offence for the regular police.
Malaysia also has a Federal Reserve Unit which is called in during times when crowd control is required, such as a demonstration or other large public event. They are distinguished by red helmets and dark blue uniforms with prominent patches of red on their shirts.
There are also General Operations Forces including Special Action Units modelled on SWAT teams, and the Special Operations Force, a commando battalion for combating insurgents in the jungle (you are most unlikely to see these in the city). Both wear plain green uniforms, not camouflage.
Another branch is the rakan cop which means literally ‘friends of cops’. It is an auxiliary police force called in wherever needed to support the regular police. They have only a few police powers. For instance, they can hold suspects for the regular police, but not formally arrest them. They are often used for security, for protecting bank money transfers, and for crowd control. They wear a uniform of dark blue trousers and a light blue shirt. Their shoulder patch says ‘Rakan Cop’.
Many large residential building complexes, shopping malls, schools and other public areas employ private security services which come in a bewildering variety of uniforms. Their responsibility is security within and around their respective building complexes. Often the officers of these services do duty as traffic policemen outside their buildings in hours of congestion as well. They are not armed. Within their jurisdictions they can levy parking fines, clamp cars and hold people suspected of an offence for the regular police.
