Friday, November 05, 2010

Rising Crime In Taman Tun Dr Ismail

Residents of Taman Tun Dr Ismail can't wait for a police headquarters to be set up in the area by the end of the year. The police HQ will be known as IPD Kiara Mas.

Read it HERE.

Meanwhile, many residents are pretty distressed. So worried over their safety and the security of their homes because of a (recent) spate of crimes in the area.

I need to point out that residents have (collectively) employed security guards who are stationed in designated areas in TTDI. You'd think that prospective perpetrators are deterred. Apparently, not.

On Tuesday (Nov 2), a resident reported to the police about seeing a grey van along Jalan Athinahapan in the morning.
She said that she rushed home from running an errand upon being alerted by her neighbour about a suspicious-looking grey van "lurking" in front of her house.
She believed that it was the same van that she had earlier seen. Her neighbour, who was viewing the CCTV, was a little suspicious of the vehicle and its occupants, and called her.
When she arrived near her house, the van made a quick "exit".

She trailed the van until Medan Athinahapan 2. What she noticed was the van going around the neighbourhood -- as though the driver was "looking" for the perfect target.
She reported the matter to the police.
The police have advised residents to quickly call them in cases like this.

The telephone number of Balai Polis Taman Tun Dr Ismail is 77286222. You have to try to remember the plate number, type of car, the colour of the car, the number of people in the car and a description (if you can) of them

Check out the list from the residents' association:

28 Oct - BMW car smashed at Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi 2
28 Oct - attempted robbery at Jalan Datuk Sulaiman 4 (6.40am)
28 Oct - very suspicious Men in Black Toyota Camry at Jalan Datuk Sulaiman 1 (3pm)
28 Oct - House break in at Lorong Rahim Kajai 4 - breakin (1pm)
27 Oct - Teacher attacked at TTDI Community Hall (3pm)
27 Oct - Snatch theft at Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi
27 Oct - Boy's iPhone snatched at Jalan Athinahapan 1
19 Oct - House break in at Jalan Leong Yew Koh - (early morning)
17 Oct - Attempted house break in at Jalan Leong Yew Koh (around 2pm)
14 Oct - Car stolen at Jalan Leong Yew Koh
7 Oct - House Break in - Jalan Athinahapan 2 (afternoon)

Don't you think the number (of incidents) and the frequency are alarming?
These are just in October. There were house break-ins last year and early this year as well.

As a long-time resident of TTDI (since 1985), I am so concerned. My own house was broken into sometime in 1998 while I was away on holiday with my family.
My very alert neighbour spotted someone lurking around the front of my house and then trying to get into the front yard through the rubbish bin compartment. He quickly called the police who came fast enough to catch the culprit, along with some things from my house.
(My house was undergoing minor renovation. Perhaps, the workmen forgot to bolt the metal door of the compartment from the front yard side)

Over the years, there have been similar cases in the area. Police have been swift in their response. Residents, on their part have been vigilant and taken extra precautions and measures by installing security features such as home alarm systems, and, as I have mentioned, (since two years ago) hired the services of security guards on a collective basis.

But the recent cases of break-ins, burglary and snatch thefts have been too frequent. Therefore alarming. And they occur in the desolateness of the morning, or afternoon when most of the house owners/occupants are out. Parents at work and kids at school.
Apparently, the criminals check out the houses first before doing a hit to make sure no one's at home. They ring the doorbells long enough to know if anyone is at home. If there is a maid, they pretend to make inquiries about house tenancy and other "innocent" matters before leaving.

Residents, over the years, have learnt to deal with these sort of things. What choice do they have?

Which neighbourhood, really, is safe? It doesn't matter whether you live in upscale neighbourhoods like Bukit Tunku or your average taman such-and-such. Criminals rob people, places, either randomly or through thorough assessment of their targets.

That said, it does not mean that residents are resigned to all this. Or that they have accepted the rising cases of house break-ins and snatch thefts, daylight robberies as as part and parcel of life.
Yes, we have learnt to live with it because it is beyond us to keep away thieves and robbers, despite having installed home security features, employed security guards, erected security fences and so forth.

What we hope for is more POLICE PRESENCE because we feel that a very visible police presence will deter thieves and robbers.
This is perhaps lacking or absent in TTDI, although I have seen a police mobile unit on Sundays near the park -- Taman Lembah Kiara.
That's just it. The police mobile unit should also be seen in different areas on different days, in those quite hours of the afternoon....

Ask any resident in TTDI and he or she will readily tell you that regular patrolling (police patrol cars) is sorely needed.

So, let's hope the police will do just that!

(I hear that the crime rate -- used to be notoriously high - in SS2, Petaling Jaya, has dipped because the police have been patrolling regularly....)


24 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:16 PM

    Yes, cos the crimers have shifted their crime from SS2 to TTDI.God knows which taman will be their next target.

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  2. wahab rahim4:05 PM

    Quite surprise to read this particular blog. Many grammar mistakes. Thanks.

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  3. OMG, what on earth happened to my place of almost 20 years? I've only been away for like 3-4 months and due back on November 15 from Melbourne. *Sigh* I've personally had witnessed 2 crimes near my house in TTDI. One is where my front neighbour was walking at night and a couple of bikers slashed her arm and ran away with her handbag. Another one where my late neighbour's house was broken into and she screamed out of shock. I knew TTDI wasn't as safe as it used to be, but I didn't expect it to become as bad as this. =( And yes, we employed our own guards as we perceive it as being much safer.

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  4. anon@1:16pm: that's what i heard. the police are doing good things in SS2...drove the criminals out...and to TTDI. sigh

    wahab: thank you for spotting the mistakes.but not so much grammatical errors as awkward construction because of rewriting (forgetting to delete some replaced words and sentences). also repetitive sentences. again due to rewriting.
    i was so much in a hurry to go for deepavali lunch that i left (behid) so many "errors". must apologise for the shoddiness. have done the necessary rectification/correction.

    by the way it should read "quite surpriseD".

    Ahmad Syafiq: i do hope things improve....though i imagine it can only get worse.

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  5. I agree... which is why we need more police patrol so that in the very least, we feel much safer than hiring private guards to do the job. Even I don't really trust the private guards that is guarding the street (which is Zaaba area) I live in.

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  6. ahmad syafiq: aah..you live in the oldest part of taman tun dr ismail.

    i know there were a number of snatch theft cases a couple of years ago.

    and along the road (along the petronas station) facing the highway wall barrier -- there were scary incidences of late night robbery. the area is so dark and lonely at night. my friend was accosted by a couple of guys on a motorbike as she parked her car in front of her house. and on top of that, her house was broken into one fine day!
    i hope things have got better in that area.

    as for the security guards. i am paying RM140 (i think) every three months for the services of the security guards (Homeguard).

    so far they've been quite good, patrolling the road at night.

    the odd thing is that one of the break-ins was at a house along a road where a security guard (complete with a barricade) is stationed.

    you see, these criminals con the guards by gaining entry using unlikely cars such as toyota camry.

    the guards let them in, thinking that they are okay people.
    the guards don't know any better.

    the perpetrators are getting better and better at what they do.

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  7. Yup, criminals are just getting smarter all the time. =P

    Oh ya, when we soon have police patrol in TTDI, do you think it'll cause the criminals to shift to nearby Bandar Utama? ;P Hehehe...

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  8. Anonymous9:17 AM

    Let's pray to god to safeguard us from those culprit. Do recite ayat al qursi "wakaf 9" every morning and before going to sleep. Insya Allah God will protect us.

    djoenoes

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  9. ahmad syafiq: actually, i thhought bandar utama is having its fair share of the problem.

    djoenoes: thank you...

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  10. Anonymous1:28 AM

    Police..bah. They are not interested in apprehending criminals. Better collecting bribes from hapless illegal immigrants and petty traffic offenders. Very often, they are staging accidents and trying to scare their victims into paying up for these so called accidents and i wonder if the ttdi police are any better.

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  11. Anonymous10:36 AM

    I wonder what is the crime statistics in Taman Tun, SS2, Bandar Utama, Kampung Medan, Kampung Tengku, Gombak, Kajang Country Homes, Damansara Heights and Bukit Tengku.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:52 AM

    Lots of people tend to focus on the crime and how to solve it.

    Look further.

    Remember. It's WHO you know not WHAT you know.

    WHAT=Crime.

    WHO=There lies your answer.

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  13. MAthin25:12 PM

    With the opening of Penchala Link and the new construction sites at Tun Mohd Fuad & Wan Kadir commercial areas, it's inevitable that easy access/exit would atttract these robbers.

    What peeved me was when sometime in October, I saw a manned polis bergerak van parked in front of the Mobil petrol station which was not even 100 metres from the police station entrance. I think there are many isolated spots in TTDI which could use the police presence.

    I'm still against any gated scheme and the Jalan Athinahapan suspicious van incident proves its ineffectiveness. Guard patrols are acceptable or move into those guarded apartments or better yet, for a neigborhooed watch and get to know your neighbors: they are the best crime deterrent!

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  14. Anonymous12:01 PM

    Can we please naik gaji polis?
    I think the rise in crime is related to salary.

    Also, we don't need expensive infrastructure. I have only been to big expensive buildings a few times in my life. Frankly, the 'wow' effect on watching the big expensive building lasts for about 1 hour. After that, it doesn't improve my life in any way.


    Please increase the salary of people. They need money to survive in this expensive era.

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  15. Anonymous8:37 AM

    when no police will help [aka deterent], residents just got to do something just to have some piece of mind - the hated gated road.

    what choice do you have? be really friendly with your neighbours? hey we're in KL lah....

    still the sight of our guards bring suspicions too.....they are indians and look strong, the sosilawati case don't help here.

    maybe balek kampong, but same there too.

    apartments and condos the choice it seems, unless the government put more money for policing and public safety, which is sad in this country.

    because our politicians do not care about this subject. they are more into mega projects and racial issues. can someone tell them that they eventually got to go home and sleep?

    i forgot, there's no crime in putrajaya.?

    TTDI resident.

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  16. Anonymous8:45 PM

    Politics and crime. Related?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous3:25 PM

    I love Malaysia although:

    Crime frequent and on the rise.
    Gangsters seem to be everywhere.
    Gangs prowling everywhere.
    Gangs on motobikes and cars seem to do as they please.
    Anyone can be a target and victim of robbery, muggings, beatings, rape and murder.

    Although I don't feel safe anymore and my life can end at any moment at the hands of gangsters, I still love my country, Malaysia.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous12:11 PM

    Don't you just feel angry after living in an area you call home for twenty to thirty years and along come strangers out of nowhere demanding protection money because they're too lazy to work.

    Wake up la Malaysians! Don't be so complacent!

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  19. Anonymous12:26 PM

    Taman Tun 1980s - A Haven

    Taman Tun 2010 - A Haven for Gangsters.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous8:47 PM

    I wonder if the brain drain is caused by people too scared to return home because of safety issues. Some have said that it's safer to walk in New York and Vietnam at night rather than in Taman Tun or Kuala Lumpur. Is this true?

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  21. Anonymous5:06 PM

    Marilah kami memohon kepada Allah S.W.T. supaya orang-orang disebalik jenayah di taman-taman dikenakan azab Allah S.W.T. kerana menganggu kehidupan masyarakat sesungguhnya Allah S.W.T tidak suka akan mereka yang merosak di bumi ini.

    Marilah kita berdoa beramai-ramai dan sembahyang hajat supaya orang-orang yang disebalik jenayah-jenayah di taman-taman secara langsung dan tidak langsung dikenakan azab yang pedih di dunia dan di akhirat.

    Ya Allah! Tolong lah kami! Kenakan azab yang pedih, panyakit dan sengsara kepada penjenayah-penjenayah di taman-taman ini.

    Ya Allah! Kenekanlah juga azab yang pedih, penyakit dan siksa kepada mereka yang bersubahat dengan penjenayah-penjenayah ini.

    Ya Allah! Jadikanlah penjenyah dan mereka yang bersubahat tidak senang duduk, minum dan tidur akibat mendapat duit yang haram dari pencurian langsung dan tidak langsung.

    Amin.

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  22. I just moved in to TTDI Jalan Rahim Kajai 2 months ago and yesterday at noon 215pm when we are all off for work, there is an attempted of breakin. Lucky our alarm went off and they didn't managed to breakin to our side glass sliding door. But they are able to cut of the side gate and my porch CCTV. Is scary.. very scary.. and according to our neighbour they are all well plan.. came in 3, well dressed in a luxurious car Harrier. Reported police but from the way they speak to us it seems that they don't bother that much even to come do patrolling.. sad isn't it.. what happen!!! Can we do something to TTDI areas? All the guards are off too.. as no many willing to pay.. haiz..

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  23. "wahab rahim said...

    Quite surprise to read this particular blog. Many grammar mistakes. Thanks."

    Wahab Rahim..before you criticise grammar mistakes please check your own English abilities.

    You say 'quite suprise instead of quite suprised. It is called PAST TENSE.

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  24. Dear Nuraina,

    My name is Farah Nurili Zuber and I am a student at University Malaya, undertaking Master in Public Policy and Management.

    As part of our final semester project, my classmates and I are studying the impact of One Utama development to TTDI and also Bandar Utama. The objective is to discover the changes that have occurred (or occurring) in TTDI and Bandar Utama due to One Utama and this include aspects such as facilities, businesses and security.

    After reading you particular blogpost titled "Rising Crime in Taman Tun Dr Ismail", we're hoping you can help us answer a few questions.

    As we're not able to find an email address, we hope you can reply us here and we'll take it from there. We have the necessary documents to verify that we're students as mentioned.

    Hope to hear from you soon. It would help us a lot.

    Thanks Nuraina!

    -Farah-

    ReplyDelete