Recently, when Jawi (Federal Territory Religious Department) officials made a raid on the Zouk nightclub and behaved atrociously towards the women detained there, there was a public outcry of indignation over Jawi's disgraceful conduct.

While the focus of the condemnation was, ironically, the unIslamic actions and behaviour of the Jawi officials, questions were also raised about the legality of the raid itself. The authority's response came soon after, that every Jawi raid shall be approved and accompanied by the police.

While not everyone was satisfied that such raids would still be condoned, there were some sighs of relief that the involvement of police may restrain and regulate the activities of Jawi officials.

But now, we see the police themselves behaving like gangsters in a raid on the Netmaster internet caf in Damansara.

The police officers were dressed in mufti, yet refused or were reluctant to show their police identification to those being accosted. Some customers even thought they were being robbed, because they were confronted by a pack of unruly dressed intruders with unruly behaviour. How in the world did the police perpetrate this frightening impression on the Malaysian public?

When pressed for their police identification after they claimed to be law officers, those Rambos flashed instead their pistols.

What was the police objective in refusing to show their identification to the detained public? Surely, if the public knew that the dramatic and scary interruptions to their cyber activities have been a police raid, they would be more cooperative, reassured that the rough mannerisms of those officers, while undesirable, were not those of gangsters or robbers. Did those so-called law officers take perverse delight in stumping the public, keeping them wondering who they were?

To compound the bewilderment of the crowd, they refused to inform the caf customers what the raid was about, and even roughhoused some who raised objections to their hooligan-like actions. They indicated amply that they were not to be questioned. All present were guilty until proven otherwise. The police officers' overall behaviour had been outrageous and totally unacceptable.

This must a classic case of small-minded people with inferiority complex demonstrating their public-provided powers to terrorise the public, perhaps to feel a perverse well-being of omnipotence. This was the Royal Malaysian Police!

We want police officers to see that the laws of the country are upheld, not break them or show off to people the laws don't apply to them. How can the police then be trusted to restrain Jawi? In fact, how can the police be trusted? The question now burning in our minds is who should accompany the police next time they go on a raid?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ? Who shall guard the guardians?