Conclusion
As a conclusion, the Commission finds five main things that should be highlighted
and dealt with immediately to reduce the deaths in police custody.
1. Health issues
This is the main problem as 80% of the deaths in custody are caused by health
reasons. The Commission recommends medical unit or medical officers are
established and placed at all lock-ups to deal with health issues as a specific team.
They can also treat and give healthcare to detainees and this will lessen the burden
of PDRM personnel. The Commission also indicates the escalating no. of death
among abused drug users, among others, is due to their weak physical caused by
withdrawal syndrome. The Commission advises PDRM and the Government with the
assistance by Ministry of Health to carry out drug diversion programme. This
programme has been practised in Melbourne, Australia where Victoria Police
established cooperation with Department of Health of Victoria to carry out Victorian
Alcohol and Drug Strategy in order to overcome the problem of deaths in police
custody.
2. Lock-up infrastructure
The facility should be improved not only to reduce the death rate but also to respect
the rights, welfare as well as the privacy of detainees. The Commission finds the
standard of facility is far worse than the international standard. Those who are
detained in the lock-ups are suspected to be involved in any crime though they are not
yet proved guilty. Therefore, the lock-up surroundings and facilities provided should
not be blaming them beforehand.
3. Investigation and request for remand
Based on the findings of the interview with detainees and IO/AIO as well as the filed
complaints, the Commission observes that the investigation has been widely carried
out after the arrest and modern devices and technology are barely utilized to assist
the process. Remand request is done when IO do not have enough time to perform
the investigation due to hefty workload.