List of Malaysian police officers killed in the line of duty
This is a list of police officers from the Royal Malaysia Police who were killed in the line of duty, based on official records from the year 1915 to date. Line of duty deaths refers to any police officer who has died while carrying out duty which he was obligated and/or authorised to carry out. This would include officers who respond to incidents while off-duty as obligated by the Police Force Act 1967, as well as those commuting to and from their place of duty or training.
Police records show a total of 1,346 policemen were killed in the line of duty while 10,698 communist members were killed, of which 5,972 were killed by the police force. The police, being the main law enforcement agency in the country were tasked during the Emergency period to combat and foil attempts by the communist party wanting to set up a communist state via the use of force and firearms.
Trends
Causes of death
Victims' Profile
Age | 1910s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s to date | Total to date |
18-20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
21–25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
26–30 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
31–35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 13 |
36–40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
41–45 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
46–50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 11 |
51–55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
56–60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Not recorded | 1 | 32 | 883 | 27 | 127 | 56 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 1,155 |
The ethnic profile of police officers has been traditionally disproportionate compared to the national ethnic profile, with a significantly higher proportion of ethnic Malays especially in the earlier decades. However, the number of casualties involving ethnic Malay police officers are statistically higher overall due in part to the high mortality rates involving the ethnic Malay community during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950-1970s, and in part to the ethnic composition of the police force.
Ethnicity | 1910s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s to date | Total to date |
Malay | 1 | 24 | 769 | 19 | 101 | 33 | 25 | 24 | 20 | 1,016 |
Chinese | 0 | 1 | 60 | 7 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 98 |
Indian | 0 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 27 |
Eurasians/Other | 0 | 8 | 31 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 70 |
Rank | 1910s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s to date | Total to date |
Police Constable | 0 | 20 | 224 | 23 | 90 | 38 | 19 | 8 | 1 | 423 |
Police Constable | — | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
Extra Police Constable | 0 | 1 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 64 |
Special Constable | 0 | 1 | 493 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 494 |
Auxiliary police | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 36 |
Lance Corporal | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 34 |
Corporal | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 54 |
Sergeant | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 30 |
Sergeant Major | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Sub-Inspector | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Inspector | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 |
Chief Inspector | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 |
Assistant Superintendent | 0 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 |
Deputy Superintendent | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Superintendent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Assistant Commissioner | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Deputy Commissioner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Inspector General of Police | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Incidents by chronology
The following cases are listed by the date of death of Malaysian police, although the incident attributing to death may have occurred earlier. The indicated ranks are as at time of death, and do not include posthumous promotions. Ranks/service numbers are colour-coded based on the cause of death as per the following general classifications. Uncoded entries refer to cases whereby incident details are unknown or unclear:Key
— denotes information is not available.