IT’S been two weeks since he took over as deputy Selangor police chief. But Datuk A. Thaiveegan has been busy assisting his boss, Selangor police chief DCP Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar. He knows that it’s a tough job but Thaiveegan, who hails from Ipoh, said it was something he looked forward to.

Thaiveegan: Call police when in trouble

He has been in the force for 26 years and has held numerous posts. Before coming to Selangor he was the Sarawak police administration head. He was also previously attached to the Sentul police headquarters as district police chief. After that he was promoted as Kedah police deputy chief. Malay Mail spoke to him on his task for Selangor.

How tough is it to be the right hand man of the Selangor police chief?

Tough enough. It’s challenging but an exciting post. I have yet to get a grasp of it. It’s been just two weeks.

How different is this compared to your last post in Sarawak?

Here the challenges are different. I’m not saying that in Sarawak it was easy but here the responsibility is bigger. My task is to assist the police chief and to give him my full support to achieve the contigent's objectives. I am thankful for being given the opportunity and responsibility to do this and I will do my best.

What are the problems faced by the public that have been brought to your attention?

The public do not understand how the police work and they do not contact us when in trouble. They need to reach out to us in order for us to help them. Police need to be more approacheable. I am working on this by going around meeting people to hear their grouses and to provide them with information. We have to work together.

What do you think the police have to do to become more approachable?

We have to be equipped with better communication skills and this is what we are working on. We also have community policing, another way of forging good ties with the public. I will undertake this for the Selangor contingent. There are lots of things to do and I know it’s not going to be an easy task but it’s not going to deter me from doing my job.