Or, in this case, that wears an assortment of rank badges and medals to make any US general envious. With authority comes responsibility and that fact cannot be obscured by any number of private business ventures or handouts of vast sums of illegally obtained money.

These truisms must be weighing heavily on the mind of the current IGP who has daily to decide whether it is better or safer to maintain a mega thief (Najib Razak) in office or to let the law take its proper, and inevitable, course by arresting and prosecuting him.

That is his problem and we watch with some amusement how he grapples with it.  But attention should and must be focussed also on those beneath him in the PDRM; particularly those high enough ranked to have both full knowledge and to be possible targets for prosecution when Najib goes.

Such senior officers will have a hard job to explain how it was that, with full knowledge of Najib’s crimes, they stood by inactive while their boss protected a notorious crimnal.  And not just a suspected one but a criminal whose arrest and prosecution had been authorised by the Attorney General before that official was summarily removed from office.

Cowardice and myopia are known conditions affecting many among us, very senior coppers included, but they are in no way excuses for failure to do sworn duty and uphold the law. So, when the fall comes, and come it will very soon, it will not be just be the IGP’s head that will come off but also those of many of his immediate subordinates.  Useless then to plead obedience to orders.  Illegal orders are as null as any plea by an accused that he was just following them.

That principle was re-stated at Nuremberg after WW2 and again many times since at war criminal’s trials.  So. Food for thought, deep thought, at Bukit Aman. The well worn excuse of negligent constables over the years and decades; “Bukan says punya responsibility Tuan” wont work here.

Think about it.