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GEORGE TOWN: The Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) is setting up committees at district level nationwide to help the organisation play a greater role in tackling crime and reaching out to local communities.

Its senior vice-chairman Lee Lam Thye said the foundation was in the process of setting up 154 district committees around the country.

“The number of district committees will be in line with the number of police districts. There are 154 nationwide.

“Each committee will be headed by a chairman appointed by the MCPF state liaison committee after consulting with the district police chief.

“The chairman must be able to work well with the district police. He will also appoint the other members of the district committee,” he said, adding that one of the members would be the local federal village security and development committee head.

Lee was speaking to reporters after a meeting with Penang police on crime prevention at the state police headquarters today.

He also said MCPF’s focus this year was to fight the drug problem in the country.

He said the foundation’s Drug-related Crimes Prevention Committee – set up last year and headed by him – was working out long and short term strategies to compliment police operations against the drug problem.

“If we can work towards reducing the demand for drugs, we can automatically reduce the supply,” he said.

Among the strategies, he said, are to increase public awareness campaigns and constructive scientific researches on drugs.

“We will be talking to Universiti Sains Malaysia’s drug research centre for input.

“We need to have more knowledge on drugs to be able to work out constructive strategies. Our preventive measures must also be sustainable to make sure our campaign is continuous,” he said.

Lee said his committee would also take the fight against drugs to schools, as some students had been used by syndicates to push drugs.

“There were cases of sweets coated with drugs. It is a serious issue. The police have also said they are going to watch schools closely,” he said.

He said his committee would work together with the school administration, teachers, parents, crime prevention clubs, and the police’s liaison officers at schools to drive the message across.

Lee also urged the people to share information with the police if they knew of any drug-related criminal activities.