The police can stop you to check who you are – which means they can stop any car they want.
According to North Johor Bahru district police chief, Rupiah Abdul Wahid, on-duty police officers are allowed to stop any individual and check their identity card in accordance with Section 24 (1) (a) of the Police Act 1967 and Section 7 (1) of the National Registration Act 1959.
The police chief released this statement and explanation following a viral video where a couple of police officers were caught on camera carrying out a vehicle inspection at Jalan Pendekar 16, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, “without any reason or explanation”.
The video, which lasted around 10 seconds, showed a man and a couple of police officers getting back into their cars, with a women in the background commentating that they were stopped and inspected without any “reason or explanation”.
Supiah said it was a routine check, and the individual was released after the inspection was completed.
“Pada jam 5.50 petang semalam, anggota ronda cegah jenayah telah menahan dan membuat pemeriksaan terhadap seorang individu yang menaiki kereta jenis Hyundai Elantra di Jalan Pendekar 16, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah.”
“Individu itu juga telah dibawa ke balai polis untuk pemeriksaan lanjut dan telah dibebaskan sejurus selesai pemeriksaan yang dijalankan,” said the police chief.
She also said that she released the explanation due to some questions being asked about the incident and asked people to be more careful about what they say on social media.
“Orang ramai diminta untuk berhati-hati dan berhemah dalam memberikan komen atau menularkan cerita tanpa kesahihan di media sosial.”
Judging by the comments made regarding the video, many netizens did seem to understand that the police have every right to stop any vehicle to check its occupants’ identification cards, but some comments that were hostile towards PDRM came from those who are still in the dark about the law regarding police vehicle stops and searches.
This statement by Supiah should make things a lot clearer for those who think otherwise.