The idea, he said, was to have the 3,000-plus police patrol vehicles linked in stages to the control centres at Bukit Aman and state contingents.

Personnel manning the control centres would be able to view the footage live and keep track of every movement and action of the mobile patrol personnel, he told reporters after closing a course on mobile police practices at the General Operations Force training centre in Ulu Kinta near here on Monday.

Tan Sri Musa said the project was still in the planning stage and a proposal had been sent to the Home Ministry and Economic Planning Unit for feedback.

He added that several police vehicles in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor had been fitted with CCTV devices for test runs.

Earlier, in his speech,Tan Sri Musa said the public had lodged complaints of mobile patrol personnel slacking when on duty, projecting a negative image of the force.

'Once implemented, the in-car CCTV devices would prevent bribery and all kinds of abuse,' he said.

'Whatever action the mobile patrol personnel take must be in front of the cameras. This is to ensure they give good service. This is the modern world now where we can monitor everything electronically.'

He said the cameras would also allow two or three patrol vehicles responding to a crime scene to capture the incident from different angles. - THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK