Woman Claims She Was Ridiculed When Lodging Report On Drunk Driver In Ipoh

To report or not to report, that is the question.

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Unfortunately, cases of drunk driving are not rare in Malaysia.

Drunk drivers may think that they’re sober enough to drive home but they fail to consider the fact that they might bring harm to others.

Hence, if you’re involved in a severe drunk driving accident, you are required to lodge a police report for them to assist you with their investigation.

However, what about those who are not directly involved in the accident?

Police ridicule witness’s report on drunk driving

Recently, a Twitter user (@fiqapong) Nur Afiqah shared her encounter with a police officer when she lodged a report In Ipoh.

She lodged the report after witnessing a man driving recklessly, presumably drunk, along Jalan Lapangan Symphony, Pusat Kesihatan Gunung Rapat.

Nur Afiqah’s tweet received a lot of attention since she posted it last Saturday (7 October). It garnered 2.2 M views and 17 K likes at the time of writing.

In her tweet, she said that she saw an uncle driving recklessly in a silver Peugeot at 11.19 pm on 6 October and he had allegedly hit some of the road dividers while driving. As she and her friend were standing within the vicinity of the car, she said that the uncle almost ran over them.

She claimed to have seen him walking out of a bar called “Black Bottle” and assumed that he was under the influence of alcohol.

“He could barely stand and walk, let alone drive,” she said.

However, when she made a police report at a police station in Ipoh, the officer who took her report allegedly asked why she was filing the report if she was not hit.

Did he hit you?

If he didn’t, why the need for you to file a report?
Alleged police officer

Nur Afiqah said she thought that it was rude for for the officer to ask that. She also hoped that the police would take this issue seriously.

After her tweet went viral, Ipoh District Police Chief, ACP Yahaya Hassan issued a statement the same day saying that the police take her complaint very seriously.

They appreciate the feedback provided by the public regarding the quality of service at the police station’s complaint centre and said that this issue has been referred to the Integrity and Standard Compliance Division (JIPS) in Ipoh for an internal investigation.

Netizens are on the fence

A lot of people chimed in her comment section on Twitter to express their views on the topic.

Most people supported her and said her actions should be applauded rather than ridiculed.

They deduced that police officers would always disregard “unimportant” tips at first. After the matter escalates, only then would they take action, which could be too late.

Some even questioned sarcastically that if she didn’t make a report now, should she have made a report only when she was dead?

However, some netizens find her sharing to be insignificant too. They mentioned that she might only be doing this to get attention.

One user also said that the police officer’s question made sense as she needed to know what category to put the report in. Plus, as the nature of their job is to deal with the public, they get many weird reports that might not be serious at all.

Another user even said that the police wanted her to just mind her own business.

Can you lodge a police report even if you’re not involved directly with the incident?

According to a Twitter user who claims to be a criminal lawyer, Ozier Farhan (@lawabidingciti1), the public (witness) can make a police report for a crime even if they’re not directly involved.

There is no law that prohibits anyone from making a police report if they are a witness to a crime. In fact, in some cases, the police report can be made as the First Information Report (FIR).

Citing The Malaysian Bar, a First Information Report (FIR) is a report that initiates an investigation into an incident. It’s the first step in the investigation process. On some occasions, without it, police can say that they took no action because there was no report.

The FIR can come from various sources but it’s usually done by the ones involved in the incident. If witnesses or passersby decide to lodge a report on the incident, the information they provide becomes the FIR, and the police can start their investigations based on that.

However, depending on the report’s content, there may or may not be an investigation and the outcome may vary.

Ozier also mentioned that police officers at the Enquiry Office can’t generally refuse to accept a request to file a report. The Enquiry Office will only lodge the report and refer it to the assigned Investigating Officer (IO) or another relevant agency.

Any further action to continue or dismiss the report depends on the discretion of the IO.

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