Police declare war on drug addicts in JB

2010/02/09

JOHOR BARU: The state police will be conducting an all-out war on drug addicts in the city as they have been responsible for a number of snatch thefts and burglaries here. State police chief Datuk Mokhtar Shariff said police will step up operations to rid the district of addicts following a recent request to clean up the city by Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman.

"In line with making (Iskandar Malaysia) a world-class city, our priority is to clean up Johor Baru," he said after visiting the city with senior police officers yesterday.

Meanwhile, Mokhtar announced that the state had seen a drop in the crime rate so far this year.

He said from Jan 1 to Sunday, there had been 266 cases less than the 2,444 recorded in the same period last year, signifying a drop of 10.88 per cent.

Mokhtar assured the public that his men are ever vigilant as the state police would also be preparing themselves for future policing duties.

During his 30-minute walk from the city's central police station near Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Mokhtar said he was satisfied with the feedback that he received from business owners and the public.

"However, improvements can still be made, especially in the areas of communicating with the public in the event that there is an emergency," he said.