Girl Humiliated By Police Receives Compensation

A girl in Florida who sued the city after claiming a police officer forced her to perform jumping jacks while topless has been awarded a compensation [PDF] amounting to USD35,000.

Florida City Pays Girl Who Says Cop Made Her Do Topless Jumping Jacks $35K

The City Council unanimously approved a $35,000 settlement for a teenage girl who sued the city after claiming a police officer forced her to do jumping jacks while topless, officials said.

"It was approved without discussion," City Manager Tom Bonfield said of Thursday's decision.

The April 2003 incident occurred when Officer Shawn Patrick Shields found the girl, then 16, and a 19-year-old male together in a parked car. Shields made the two teens exit their vehicle, then told them he could arrest them for lewd and lascivious behavior, authorities said.

The girl told investigators that Shields told her to perform five topless jumping jacks, which she said she did as he shone his flashlight on her.

Both teenagers passed polygraph tests during the investigation.

Shields was later fired from the police department and pleaded no contest to extortion.

He was placed on probation for two years in December 2003 and ordered to write a letter of apology to the girl.

The name of the girl's attorney was not immediately known.

Not exactly similar to Malaysia's own Nude Squat MMS Fiasco but not exactly far from it either. As far as I know, there is still no apology, no compensation and no outcome from this very dark and ugly episode involving our police force yet. Yes, the woman performing the shameful nude squats in the MMS has brought the case to court but will this end up under the carpet like the other high profile cases before this? One year after this whole episode saw the day of light, it is very much on its way to a very dark place.

Keywords: jumping jacks nude naked squat MMS 3gp video clip recording fiasco scandal police abuse Florida Malaysia compensation

She's Malay...So What?!?

Somehow, the police abuse MMS fiasco has veered out of control and have totally lost focus on the issue at hand. How is the nationality/ethnicity important in this case? She's a local Malay and not a Chinese national. So what?!?

News did get out awhile back that the woman in the infamous MMS doing ear-squats in the nude is not a Chinese national as earlier reported but a local Malay. It was mostly rumours then but the inquiry has confirmed that she's a local Malay on the second day of their investigations. How is it that it is less wrong if it is not a Chinese national? Even if she was Mongolian or Filipino or Indian or African or Russian or Japanese, does it make the unethical 'standard procedure' less or more wrong? No!

The issue at hand still remains that doing ear-squats in the nude is totally wrong and should be discontinued. The police shouldn't have resorted to such a demeaning act in the first place. Worse still, it's not a written law/directive/procedure...it's just a 'standard procedure' that they adhere to. WTF?!? This reader hit the target with his letter to the editor when he questioned the rationale of pulling ears during squats. The other problem is, how was someone able to access the room from a window or opening and record the video-clip? Who was it behind the camera/mobile phone? What was his/her intention? To expose this inhumane 'standard procedure' or just to satisfy someone's lust?

Also, now it seems that a police officer was showed the infamous MMS some months back! What?!? And nothing was done at all? There are so many other important questions left unanswered. How is it that the nationality/ethnicity is more important than those issues? It's only the second day of the inquiry. I hope they do better in the coming days.

Police Abuse MMS: Panel Given 30 Days

A five-member independent panel has been given 30 days to submit its report regarding their investigations on the ear squat video incident that has been in the spotlight for the past week or so.

Five-member independent panel to probe ear squat video incident named

KUALA LUMPUR: The five-member independent panel to investigate the ear squat video incident has been named. It has 30 days after the members receive their appointment letters to submit its report to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

As reported in The Star yesterday, former Chief Justice Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah was named commission chairman, and former MCA deputy president Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek a member.

The other members of the panel are former Bar Council chairman Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari and Wanita Umno legal bureau chief Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim.

The fifth member is Internal Security Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Hamzah Md Rus, as the commission secretary.

All of them were also members of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police. Hamzah was also the secretary then.

Dzaiddin's new panel is officially known as "The Commission of Inquiry into the Standard Operating Procedure, Approaches or Regulations in the Handling of Body Search in Connection with Arrest and Detention by the Police."

The list was announced in a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Department late yesterday.

The commission set up under the Commission of Inquiry Act 1950, and took effect yesterday.

The statement stated the appointment of Dzaiddin and his team and that the four terms of reference had received the consent of the King.

The terms of reference were:

# DETERMINE whether the woman seen in the video clip doing ear squats in the nude was one of the five Chinese nationals who were arrested and held by police;

# INVESTIGATE the handling of the body search of the woman seen in the video clip doing ear squats in the nude;

# DETERMINE whether there was any impropriety in the handling of the aforementioned body search; and

# INVESTIGATE the standard operating procedure, approaches or regulations in the handling of body search in connection with the arrest and detention by the police, and to propose any changes if needed. [...]

I find the members of the panel to be acceptable, knowledgable and balanced enough to tackle this problem. As for now, we can only wait for the report in a month's time.

(picture from The Star)

Police Abuse MMS: Noh Reprimanded

The Prime Minister was swift to put things back in order for the second time in the space of a week when he reprimanded the Deputy Minister of Internal Security Minister for his insensitive, inappropriate and brainless 'Go Home' comment.

Pak Lah: Noh statement totally against Government's policy on visitors

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has reprimanded Datuk Noh Omar for his remarks that foreigners and visitors should go home if they thought the Malaysian police were cruel.

Abdullah, who is also the Internal Security Minister, said the remarks by his deputy minister were "highly inappropriate".

"His statement is totally against the government's policy and stand on foreign visitors and tourists, where we welcome all of them whether to holiday, study, seek medical treatment or to do business here.

"Members of the Government should be more sensitive and careful when making any statement in connection with this issue.

"I have reprimanded Datuk Noh Omar on this matter," the Prime Minister told Bernama. [...]

Although the deputy minister did offer an apology if anyone was offended by his comments, I feel it's way too late. It was too late once he uttered those words. He should never had made those comments. The damage is already done and nothing can restore the situation to what it was before. You should have thought of it first before opening your pie-hole and creating more problems. Worse still, he even dare push the blame on the media for misintepreting him! Now, you listen to this clip and tell me he didn't say those comments and the media twisted his words. I do hope the media will go after his head for this! Once again, he proves himself to be such an idiot!

Police Abuse MMS: Get Out!

Another twist to the scandal that is plaguing the Malaysian Royal Police Force. A blunder on the part of the Deputy Internal Security Minister has added spice to the already colourful ongoings. Yesterday, outside the Parliament, he made the audacious call for foreigners to go home and not come to Malaysia if they think the police force here is brutal. WTF?!?

As if Malaysia is not generating enough bad publicity at the moment that this smart-ass politician had to sour relations even further by making such insensitive comments. Tourism contributes a huge chunk of our country's revenue and our economy will be crippled if tourists stop visiting us. Does he have the brains to think before he opens that pie-hole of his? This is totally in contrast of what the Prime Minister is trying to do, restore the confidence of foreigners and put Malaysia back in good light! This Deputy Minister should be given a good ticking off and even suspended (if not sacked) for this faux pas. Here we are trying to make things better and he comes along to complicate things further. Idiot! I would like to remind the Deputy Minister that it is not only the foreigners that think the police are brutal/cruel as Malaysians share the same opinion as them. Is he asking us to move out also? Or is he labelling us as foreigners now?

This matter is not highlighted in the local media but there's always the foreign media and in this age of technology, information flows freely. You may read more here and here.

Police Abuse MMS: Special Inquiry Formed

The Prime Minister has acted swiftly in trying to at least restore a little respect for Malaysia by setting up an independent body to investigate the incident of a Chinese national woman ordered to strip and perform ear squats.

Special inquiry to probe ear squat issue

SUBANG: An independent body will be set up immediately to investigate the recent case of a woman, believed to be a Chinese national, ordered to perform ear squats in the nude in a police lockup.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he had been briefed on the case and decided that an independent inquiry must be carried out.

Speaking to reporters on returning from Malta at the Royal Malaysia Air Force (RMAF) base here, Abdullah said the names of the people to sit in the proposed body had been shortlisted.

"I will speak to them to find out whether they are willing to be members of the body," Bernama quoted Abdullah, who had been in Malta for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), as saying.

On who would be heading the body, the Prime Minister said he was still considering it as "there are many (people) in (my) mind" at the moment. [...]

Looks like there's some bright light at the end of the tunnel after all.

Police Abuse MMS: Breaking It Down

Malaysians were shocked to hear the police were changing the focus of their investigations from the inappropriate 'routine' check of stripping down and performing ear squats to the person who took the infamous video clip and exposed the injustice, once again making whistle-blowers the scapegoat. Malaysians from all walks of life were united in condemning the move.

It has been shown that the stripping and the ear squats are illegal as there is no provision in the law of the land sanctioning those actions. Is the police force trying to act above the law? Calls for an independent body to continue in the investigations grows louder by the hour. If our prayers are answered and an independent body is formed for this matter, what do we want from them? Let's take a step back and reanalyse the situation.

1) The police points to the Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) to defend the strip-search and ear squats. The question is, does the SOP supercede the law of the land? Is it legal? If proven legal, is it appropriate?

2) The female police constable might have been following 'routine' procedure and cannot be faulted but who gave her the green-light? Who gave her the order? The problem here is that these actions are still demeaning and inappropriate, and some reform is needed to correct it.

3) Who recorded the video clip? Was it a civilian or a police officer? Why was the video clip made? Was it for personal pleasure or to expose the wrongdoings? Why is he/she the focus of the investigations when the whole fiasco is equally wrong? If it was someone filming for his own personal pleasure, will he hide behind the protective cloak of intending to expose the wrongdoings?

4) Is this really an isolated case like what they are trying to tell us? Were there really no profiling at all?

5) What action will be taken after the end of the investigations? Will those involved be punished appropriately or just receive a slap on the wrist? Will the police force be finally reformed for the benefit of all Malaysians?

We will see what happens if the independent enquiry ever materialises. If not, we can only sit and pray it will be an impartial and effective investigation.

Police Abuse MMS: Change Focus?

Have investigations into the alleged police abuse ala Abu Ghraib that made headlines just a couple of days ago with the help of technology changed its focus? Is the policewoman in the infamous MMS clip now exonerated from any wrongdoing? Will the police now hunt only for the person who recorded the video clip? The Malaysian Police Force once again shows its 'amazing 'abilities in solving crimes.

Police to go after person who filmed naked woman

KUALA LUMPUR: Who shot the scenes? This is the crux of police investigations into the controversial video clip showing a naked Chinese woman doing ear squats while in police custody.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Musa Hassan said whoever took the video clip - whether from the force or a civilian – would be charged under the Penal Code with insulting the modesty of a person or intruding into the privacy of a woman.

The offender can be fined or jailed up to five years or both.

The 70-second video had made the rounds via the multimedia messaging service (MMS) over the past week.

The clip, depicting the nude woman doing ear squats in front of a policewoman at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters, caused national outrage and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called for an immediate probe into the incident, with no cover-ups.

"It is the perpetrator behind the video clip whom we are after and not the policewoman, who was carrying out a routine check," said Musa. (emphasis mine)

"We will not be lenient, especially if it involves police personnel," he added, declining to comment on the woman who was forced to do ear squats.

Musa also said a special team under his supervision had interviewed a number of people regarding the incident.

In Kepala Batas, DERRICK VINESH reported that North Seberang Perai OCPD Asst Comm Mazlan Lazim as saying that the police should continue strip-searching suspects.

ACP Mazlan said it was an effective way to ensure that no foreign object is brought into the police lock-up, adding that in the past, some suspects had tried to hide cigarettes, pills, matchsticks and razor blades in their private parts.

"The video clip should not stop police officers from carrying out their duties," he said at a police DeepaRaya open house at the Taman Bakti children's home here yesterday.

He added, however, that the strip search must be done in an "appropriately and holistic" manner.

On the ear squats, ACP Mazlan said, in some cases, simple exercise steps and corporal punishment were carried out to ensure the suspects stretched out their arms and legs to ascertain there were no hidden items.

He said women officers usually strip-searched female suspects while the men did the same to male suspects.

Is the police trying to tell us their 'routine' (of ordering suspects to strip naked and do ear squats) absolutely right and not wrong in anyway at all? Is the police trying to tell us the only person who is guilty in this whole scandal is the person who recorded the video clip and no one else? Will we continue to live in fear of wrongful prosecution and abuse either physically, emotionally or even both? Will this matter just be swept under the carpet and die of a premature death since the local media is slowly but surely pushing this story further away from the front few pages of the newspapers? A friend of mine who is a Chinese national tells me his countrymen are already boycotting Malaysia. It is about time an independent body is formed to investigate this matter. It is obvious the police cannot be trusted in continuing this investigation. Will justice prevail in the end? My hopes of seeing a brighter Malaysia is fading fast. Let's pray something constructive is done before I lose all hope.

Abuse Culprit Identified

The policewoman in the infamous MMS videoclip has been identified as a police constable from the district headquarters in Petaling Jaya. It has also been confirmed that the incident occurred at the headquarters.

Video clip taken at a PJ police station

PETALING JAYA: The uniformed woman captured on a cellular phone video ordering a naked female Chinese national to do ear squats has been identified as a police constable from the district headquarters here.

It has also been confirmed that the incident occurred at the headquarters.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Musa Hassan said police had recorded the constable's statement and he had directed a no cover-up investigation into the incident.

"There will not be any cover-up, and anyone involved in any illegal activity, like recording or even using a phone in a restricted area, will be brought to book. We will not hesitate to dismiss them.

"The Prime Minister himself personally contacted me to ensure a thorough investigation is carried out, and that those involved are taken to task," he said when contacted yesterday.

The Deputy IGP, who visited the district police headquarters yesterday, vowed to get to the bottom of the matter, and appealed to the public to allow him and his officers to investigate the matter.

He said police needed to find out who took the video clip, as there were a number of people, including civilians, at the place at the time of the incident.

Musa also clarified that all detainees were required to strip and be searched before being sent to the lock-up.

This is to ensure that they do not have any prohibited items, like sharp objects or drugs.

"It is a requirement that all detainees are thoroughly checked by police personnel of their gender, and checks must be done in a closed-up area," he said, adding that police could ask detainees to do squats. [...]

The Deputy Inspector-General of Police has directed a no cover-up investigation but one wonders if this is totally true especially when they've received information of this incident as far back as last Saturday!

Police already probing video clip before public exposure

KUALA LUMPUR: Police were already investigating the video clip showing a naked woman doing ear squats in front of another woman in uniform before it was exposed in Parliament.

MCA head of Public Service and Complaints Department Datuk Michael Chong said he received the video clip via MMS last Saturday.

"I immediately called Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Yahaya Udin.

'We met on Tuesday (Nov 22) and I showed him the clip and discussed what action should be taken," Chong said at his office yesterday. [...]

I truly doubt the police constable is the only person involved. Will they investigate further to dig up more dirt? Will they set up an independent enquiry on this issue? Will the Government finally take the right initiatives to reform the police force? Time will only tell. Let's see how this story develops further.

(picture from The Telegraph)

Malaysian Police Walk The Abu Ghraib Way

We laughed and ridiculed the Americans when the Abu Ghraib abuse story broke out. Now, they and the whole world will be returning us the favour, all because of some 'clever act' by some of our idiotic men and women in blue. If you've not heard about the biggest news in Malaysia at the moment, your excuse better be that you were lost in some thick and dark jungle, or you were in some faraway planet, cos this is some serious shit and very few will beat this as one of the most humiliating and distasteful events to plague us Malaysians. Absolutely shameful!

Nude woman ordered to ear squat

KUALA LUMPUR: A controversial video footage showing a woman in uniform instructing a Chinese-looking naked woman to do ear squats caused an uproar after it was made public yesterday.

Police have now started investigations and have lodged a report on their own.

Ministers and MPs expressed disgust with the way the naked woman was treated after they were shown the clip by Seputeh MP Teresa Kok at Parliament House yesterday.

The video clearly shows the woman standing naked in a room with some lockers to her right. The woman in uniform can be heard telling the woman in Bahasa Malaysia to pull her ears, squat and stand up. The naked woman did 10 ear squats.

The 70-second video clip is said to have been taken using a cellphone and has been widely circulated through the multimedia messaging service (MMS) over the past few days.

The person who recorded the incident did it through a grilled window.

However, the identity of the uniformed person or location where the incident took place could not be ascertained at present. It is also not known when the incident took place.

The footage has led people to link the scenes shown in it to the ordeal of four women from China at a police station recently.

The four alleged that a policewoman asked them to strip and perform ear squats in a room at a station while in police custody.

They were arrested on suspicion of having invalid travel documents in Sungai Buloh here on Nov 3.

However, the four women have denied being the naked woman shown in the video clip, saying they were on the first floor of a building without windows.

This is the latest scandal to hit the Royal Malaysian Police Force and some balls (and breasts?) better be shaking now. If those responsible think they can get away with it, they must be joking. They probably thought they were immune to the law then but how awful their stomach must be feeling now that they have been exposed. It is as if the Abu Ghraib incident had not taught these idiots that such acts are inhumane, totally unacceptable and the perpetrators will eventually face the music. Did they really think they could get away with it? I would be damn pissed if they weren't handed a heavy and deterrent punishment.

Those involved in any way to this fiasco, directly and indirectly, must be accountable for their actions (or inaction). Not only should they be charged in the court of law and put in a lockup straight away pending a trial, they should lose their jobs and pensions and never to be employed by anyone ever again. Come to think of it, why should they even bother about employment when they should be spending the rest of their lives behind bars? There should be no leniency at all irregardless if they have kids or the like. They should have thought of that before disgracing Malaysia, in general and the police force, in particular. What they have done is totally unacceptable and should not be tolerated.

If anyone still doubts it, technology has definitely given us a way to expose the dark secrets that would never have seen the light of day. The MMS clip has not only helped highlight the plight of the Chinese national but also bring to the public's attention the abuse of power that is plaguing the police force. Technology can help make sure they will always be on their toes and think twice before they break the law that they were entrusted to uphold in the first place. It is about time we feel safe living in our own country.

This is definitely not the first case that has tarnished the name of the police force and most likely, it will not be the last if affirmative action is not taken. Just recently, a blog was created to highlight the ordeal of 22 innocent Malaysians who were wrongly accused and charged for taking drugs during a raid. The police force definitely needs reform quick. Too much hanky-panky have been going on and this must now come to an end. The integrity of the force must be restored and action must be taken immediately to arrest this decline. It's good that the powers that be have expressed their shock and disgust over this episode, and support an all out investigation. I just hope it will not end as yet another NATO (No Action, Talk Only).

(picture from The Star)

Keywords: Abu Ghraib Malaysia police PDRM polis lockup nude naked ear squat MMS 3gp video clip recording abuse scandal fiasco