This year, I have been to three different police stations (Batu Gajah, Petaling Jaya and Ipoh) - either to lodge a police report or to accompany my wife to do so - for a car accident, burglary and car theft. I noticed the system of lodging report to be time-consuming, and this has a lot to do with the layout of the police stations.

To lodge a police report, one has to go to a counter to write out on a piece of paper, dictate to a police officer using word processor, or fill in a standard form (depending on which police station and/or type of case). Then one has to go through the details again with the investigating officer. The main problem in each case is that invariably one has to go to another part of the premises or another building to complete the process.

There is even a need to get a visitor's pass from the sentry to go to another building at the Ipoh headquarters. Last Wednesday afternoon, there was a very heavy downpour and this seemingly simple procedure became almost impossible without being fully drenched. While waiting for the rain to let up, by the time I (fully drenched) got an umbrella from the car (which my daughter just borrowed from her aunt and which had to be parked outside the compound), my diabetic wife had to tell the investigating officer to give her sugar in case she faints. Luckily, someone had some sweets with him.

All the traffic policemen and some visitors had to take shelter while the heavy rain poured incessantly. While I waited at the sentry-box, the sight of them so helpless next to a big poster "Keranamu Malaysia" and some electrical work in progress meant for the coming Merdeka celebration, I thought to myself, "how ironic?" I wish the police officers in charge of the station would go through the procedure themselves just to see how difficult it is just to make a police report.

My wife lost her company's car, a Ford Courier, at the car park within the compounds of Perak Chinese Maternity Hospital in Ipoh's Jalan Kampar. The car was parked there for only half an hour (1.20 to 1.50pm) while waiting for our daughter's chest X-ray. Later, when we went to complain to the guard, we found him and another man sleeping with the windows half closed!

Having gone through the experience, I now realised why car thefts are so rampant. Even policemen seem to have this defeatist attitude that the car cannot be found as it would have been dismantled. The time it takes to lodge a police report which can be easily two hours (remember no transport then), the thief has ample time to hide it.

If only the police have a special squad to deal with car thefts as soon as they have been notified by phone, then they could immediately inform the police on patrol all over the state, if not the country, then those stolen vehicles that could crossed the Thai border would at least be minimised.

If only the newspapers would allow a daily column for registration numbers of stolen vehicles to be publicised. If only radio and television stations would similarly do so, then the chances of stolen vehicles being noticed while being driven to their respective destinations will be higher.

There should also be some incentives for police who managed to recover stolen vehicles.

I sincerely hope the police will try their best to reduce the number of car thefts instead of accepting it as inevitable. At least I hope to see some improvement on the reporting procedure.

By the way, because the theft happened in Jalan Kampar, it was under the jurisdiction of the Pasir Puteh station and we have checked and have been told a copy of the report will take a week to be ready!