5 common misconceptions Malaysians have about police reports

(Why do people need to know this)

(Assumptions)

Sometime in our lives we may be required to make a police report, whether it’s to report a crime or an accident. But we never really pay much attention to that piece of paper that many of us call a police report. Most of the information we have about police reports are from friends and family who have told us things like, “you can’t make a police report 24 hours after an incident”.

But are those things actually true? So what we’ve done is actually laid down the common misconceptions Malaysians have about police reports and whether it factually matches up with the law.

MYTH 1: PDRM can only investigate crimes if there’s a police report 

(reality-wise?)

If you’ve ever made a police report, you’d expect after that the PDRM would then investigate the matter, and bring the offender to justice. So it might be reasonable to believe that the PDRM can only investigate a crime if someone makes a police report. But that’s not the case. 

(mention that it’s an indian case)

In the case of The King-Emperor v Khwaja (1944), where Khwaja was charged with the offence of cheating. A police report was made by a man named Saleh for that offence, but upon further investigations, it seemed like Khwaja committed another offence. So Khwaja argued that for the second offence, the police had no right to investigate that matter, and the court couldn’t charge him for it because a police report wasn’t made for that offence.

The court disagreed with Khwaja and said that a police report isn’t necessary for the police to start investigating crime. They further added it’s common practice for the police to act upon informal intelligence like tip-offs to investigate crimes. 

(it’s the law that established that rule)

Myth: FALSE

MYTH 2: Police reports can be used as evidence in court

If you’ve ever had your items stolen, your first cause of action would be to make a police report. And when you do, your police report would likely include information such as:

• A description of the thief 
• How it happened, and
• What items were stolen from you.

So if the police catches a suspect, it’s only logical to believe that the police report would be an important piece of evidence  which proves the person is a criminal.

But here’s the thing: the law says that police reports cannot be used to prove the guilt of an accused person in court. 

(It’s a case that established the rule)

In Balachandran v PP (2005) 1 CLJ  85, Balachandran was arrested while he was in front of a school holding a bag containing meth. He was subsequently charged with possession of dangerous drugs, and during the case the prosecution didn’t do 1 thing: use the police report made by a witness as evidence.

Balachandran’s lawyers argued that because the prosecution’s case depended on the police report, it should actually be used as evidence to prove that he’s guilty. The failure to submit the police report means that the prosecution’s case is weak.

But the judge disagreed with Balachandran’s lawyers because a police report can’t be used as proof that someone committed a crime. He further went on to say that the main function of a police report is to collect initial information of crimes.

If however the police report needs to to be used as evidence in court, it can only be used to support the truth of a witness’ statement in court. So if let’s say a witness tells a judge that the perpetrator wore a black hoodie during the crime, the police report can be used as evidence to support his statement. 

So basically, cant be used as proof of guilt, but as supporting evidence that the crime actually happened. 

Myth: FALSE

MYTH 3: You can’t make a police report after 24 hours

This one is pretty common, and you may have heard someone saying something like: “If you kena accident, you must make a report within 24 hours.”

Well, the statement is kind of true as Section 52(2) of the Road Transportation Act says:

So yes, the law does say you must report accidents to the PDRM within 24 hours. But there’s an exception to this, if you’ve exceeded 24 hours as stated in the law, you can still make a report if you valid excuse. For instance, let’s say you were severely injured and need more than 24 hours to recover, you probably can still make a police report. (make clear you need a valid excuse)

[READ MORE: Can you still report an accident to the PDRM after 24 hours?] 

(need more distinction)

Besides motor vehicle accidents, this exception also applies to crimes. We contacted the PDRM’s legal division (D5) in Bukit Aman, and an officer on the phone told us that you can report a CRIME anytime even if 24 hours have passed. 

Myth: FALSE

MYTH 4: You can’t get back stolen items that you’ve reported

So let’s say you reported to the police that your handbag got snatched – an expensive blue Gucci, with your IC and other valuables in it. You reported it to the PDRM, and somewhere down the line, the PDRM catches someone with that same bag with all your stuff in it. Must the PDRM actually give you your stuff back???

The answer is: YES.

Section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Code, says that the PDRM must report all stolen items they find to a Magistrate Court’s judge, and the judge will then order that property be returned back to the owner.

However, sometimes the judge or PDRM may not know who the items belong to. In such situations, a public notification will be given and the owner has 6 months to claim that the item is his. So for example, if the item is a phone, you could present the receipt to the judge showing that the IMEI number on the receipt matches the phone.

[READ MORE: Did you know the PDRM are allowed to sell stuff they confiscate from criminals?]

Myth: FALSE

MYTH 5: If you report something less serious, the PDRM won’t investigate

Police reports are not necessarily made to report crimes only. For instance, you can make a police report if you’ve misplaced your IC or credit cards, to ensure no one misuses it if found.

But if you report a minor crime like pickpocket-ing – many of us would think that the PDRM wouldn’t investigate it as it’s not serious enough.

But here’s the thing, depending on the type of crime you’ve reported, the PDRM could be duty bound to investigate the matter. 

So for non-serious crimes where the sentence carries a jail term less than 3 years, the PDRM actually has the option of not investigating the matter. But if you really want justice, the PDRM must refer your case to a Magistrate Court’s judge as stated in Section 108 of the Criminal Procedure Code– who’d then take over the investigations. 

Aa for serious crimes where the offence carries a sentence of more than 3 years jail, the PDRM has no option but to investigate the matter. And if you made the report, you can also request for updates on the case after 2 weeks. 

[READ MORE: What can you do if the PDRM is not investigating your report?]

Myth: FALSE