KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — District police chiefs across the country are reminded not to treat the ‘Integrity Pledge’, signed every month, lightly to eradicate gambling in their respective administrative districts, said Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.

Ayob Khan said this is because he received information that some among the Kuala Lumpur police contingent were not satisfied when Bukit Aman CID D7 Task Force was sent to take action against online gambling premises.

“All OCPDs who sign the ‘Pledge’ every month should not have any gambling activities in their respective districts and have to stick to that promise.

“Don’t treat the Pledge as a tissue paper that has no value and no more warnings would be given,” he told reporters after attending the Kuala Lumpur police chief’s handover ceremony at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters, here, today.

Ayob Khan wants every district police chief to take action with moral, ethical and legal principles in the interest of the public.

“When a district police chief signs the Integrity Pledge, it means he has to fulfil his responsibilities.

“Combating gambling takes time and there are various types of gambling such as online gambling and number betting, while syndicates are always changing their modus operandi,” he said.

Ayob Khan said he had given instructions to all CID heads and CID division heads at the contingent and district levels to ensure that the anti-gambling operation continued.

“I did not become the CID (as CID director) today and tomorrow gambling activities will cease. There is a need to have close coordination with the local authorities and Tenaga Nasional Berhad,” he said.

He said district police chiefs need to play their important roles and not wait for Bukit Aman to take criminal action.

Ayob Khan said he has established a small CID task force to monitor crimes in the state and district police contingents.

“The task force has just been established and these people will go into the field to monitor the assignment of state and district police contingents, the focus of this task force is not just gambling but for all types of crime,” he said.

He said the lack of monitoring and supervision at the state and district contingent police level caused illegal gambling activities to be still rampant.

“I will come down suddenly to make an inspection and I will not send a task force to all contingents and districts.

“We will do a spot check if there is information they did not take action and I will impose disciplinary action on the district police chief because ‘the Pledge’ made,” he said.

Earlier, former Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain was appointed as the new Kuala Lumpur police chief effective today.

Mohd Shuhaily replaces Datuk Azmi Abu Kassim who has been appointed as the Bukit Aman Management Department director.

Mohd Shuhaily said he intends to make Kuala Lumpur a city that not only local people want to live in and visit, but also people from abroad.

“I take the totality of the good, the bad and the ugly of Kuala Lumpur and let’s plan and strategise together, on how to make Kuala Lumpur look and feel great.

“Kuala Lumpur is always under the magnifying glass and if Kuala Lumpur is successful then the entire Royal Malaysia Police will be successful,” he said. — Bernama