Purple-dressed policewomen on motorcycles to make presence felt in Kota Kinabalu

KOTA KINABALU: Women are generally more comfortable talking about their problems and issues with someone of the same gender.

Realising this, Kota Kinabalu police launched a motorcycle beat involving purple-dressed female officers and personnel to make their rounds at highly women-populated areas around the city.

Kota Kinabalu police chief Asst Comm Kasim Muda said the special unit, known as “Amanita”, was also part of the effort to obtain information on unreported crime.

“For this initial phase, we are deploying Amanita from the Imago Shopping Mall to Jesselton Mall.

“They will also make their presence felt in areas like Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens, Anjung Kinabalu and Gaya Street,” he said.

He added that the coverage area may include housing areas, depending on manpower strength.

Speaking after launching the Amanita Motorcycle Patrol at the Kota Kinabalu Police Headquarters in Kepayan on Sunday (June 16), Kasim said to date, there are three female personnel assigned to the beat.

“The women community are more comfortable interacting with female police personnel and officers, and they are more inclined to provide information to the police on any crime activities in their areas.

“Hence, we are planning to add another six, but that would depend on our strength and female personnel owning a motorcycle licence,” he said.

Kasim said Amanita’s 12-hour shift begins from 7am to 7pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

In another development, Kasim said police would not hesitate to issue summons to motorists for obstructing traffic or parking in undesignated areas.

“There have been a lot of complaints from the public on such offences, which sometimes cause road congestion.

“I have instructed the traffic police to issue summons to anyone caught committing these offences,” he said.