THE voluntary patrolling effort by some USJ and Subang Jaya residents has resulted in the capture of a snatch thief in September.
Uda Ismail, 55, Zainal Abidin Shaik Zakaria, 49, and Subang Jaya Municipal Council driver Yaakob Ahmad, 55, were patrolling the streets of USJ 2 on Sept 28 at about 11.30am when they saw two men on a motorcycle behaving suspiciously.
Sensing that they were being tailed, the duo zoomed off and eventually fell from the motorcycle. The pillion rider ran away when Zainal and Uda rushed out from the car and caught the rider.
L/Kpl Wan Makhtar Wan Mohamad, who was also with the Voluntary Patrol Unit (VPU), handcuffed the suspect and seized the motorcycle.
The suspect was found to have seven previous records of drug-related cases.
The three were rewarded with certificates from Subang Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Zainal Rashid Abu Bakar on Tuesday at the USJ 8 police station during the police monthly assembly.
OCPD Zainal Rashid thanked them for their selfless act and hoped the recognition would lift the spirits of VPU members in curbing crime with the police.
“We need more people from the community to join the VPU team and relay information to us,” he said.
Yaakob, who is assigned to patrol with the VPU once a week, felt proud and delighted to have contributed his effort.
Zainal, a lawyer, took two hours off his work schedule every Tuesday to patrol the streets. When he heard about the VPU, he decided to join the team right away as he was a victim of a break-in.
“Naturally, we were scared when we captured the suspect as he might be armed, but there was also anger within us,” he said.
Uda, on the other hand, is a retired manager. He admitted not knowing the people in the community before this, but he has made many new friends after he joined the multi-racial group.
“It gives us an opportunity to come together. We hope this recognition would inspire more residents to join our team,” he said.
The VPU was formed by USJ 11 resident Mak Meng Chin and MPSJ councillor Rajiv Rishyakaran in December last year.
Together with the police, the unit has been patrolling Subang Jaya and USJ since Jan 11, from 9am to 5pm on weekdays in two-hour shifts.
The team has about 50 active volunteers now. To join, email Mak at mcmak64@hotmail.com.