I read MGG Pillai's piece on 'Crime and the police' (Aug 21) with great sadness. The aim of the police department is to protect the nation from those who seek to damage it. As such they are responsible for the well-being of the nation. Their role is an important one and no one should seek to undermine that.

In more modern times, they are seen as the people who enforce the law. The law is passed by Parliament which is elected by the people. Thus, ultimately, they should be responsible to the people and it is this group they should serve.

Therefore, if you look at any responsible nation, the police are always involved in ways of getting closer to the public. Indeed, one cannot serve a community one does not know and love. And if one does not love and believe in one's community, then one will not serve them to the best of one's ability.

However, in recent years, this understanding has eroded to a ridiculously low level in Malaysia. The police seem to have lost all direction. They seem to serve the needs and whims of certain politicians rather than the people. They seem not to care what the people think but only what their superiors think. This is a culture of 'kissing-up'.

As such the police are made to chase phantom 'menaces' who do not exist, and as a result don't have time to chase after the real criminals out there, of whom there are many.

Also, corruption among the police seems to be on the rise more than in any other sector in Malaysia. This has resulted in the police becoming a laughing stock of the public, to the extent that everyone refers to them as 'the

sekarang macam mana ?' lot. This is indeed sad and is no laughing matter.

But who is to be blamed for this? We know that the police are among the lowest paid of general workers. The recent economic boom has left them no better if not worst off than they ever were.

The police form part of the backbone of the nation, and if one loses confidence in them, then the nation stands to lose a great deal. The police have lost their source of attraction and respect. As a result they do not attract the best from the nation. This can be a problem in the future.

We need a police force that is more responsible to the people. We need them to be independent and unbiased. We need them to protect the interest of the nation and not individuals.

Unfortunately as former Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban said, "Men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives."

Only the people can change the attitude of the police. Perhaps the best option now is for the community to embrace the police force, especially those lower down in the ranks, and listen to some of their grievances. If we can do that, then we can subvert their loyalty, from the loyalty to individuals to loyalty to the community. Is this possible, or is there another way?

However, one of the problems of embracing the police force is that they are never made to feel part of the community because they are made to live in their own quarters and are regularly transferred from one place to another, and one wonders for what purpose?

What is evident is that there is a need to change the attitudes of the police and the public.