SMS police to keep your homes safe

KUALA LUMPUR Nov 17 - Residents of Kuala Lumpur can now notify the police via the short messaging service (SMS) when they are away for the Hari Raya so that the police can patrol their houses.

Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Datuk Dell Akbar Khan said 37 house owners around the city had already sent messages asking the police to patrol their areas a few minutes after the service was launched at 10.30 am Monday.

Previously, police required residents to fill forms but it had not received good response, he said at the launch of the "SMS to Police" service, which was a cooperation with Radio RMKL and Interactive Vista Sdn Bhd.

To send a notification, type: "POLISKL Balik Kampung", followed by your name, address and the duration you would be away, and send it to "39988".

Each SMS costs 50 sen.

Dell Akbar said the messages would be monitored by a centre at the Kuala Lumpur Contingent Headquarters and the relevant information would be channelled to police stations closest the houses.

Meanwhile, he also urged residents' associations to be more responsible in handling the problem of children playing with fire crackers and people selling the contraband near their houses.

The associations should be able to solve the problem of the sale of the illegal goods as the sellers themselves were usually residents in the area, he said.