Following last week’s killing of a well-known Western bar owner, a number of Phnom Penh expatriates in the same line of work said Sunday that they had little faith in the municipal police, and that they relied instead on private security guards for their protection.
“Most bars should have their own security guards. That’s a must-have as far as I’m concerned,” said David Channell, president of the Restaurant and Pub Operators Association of Cambodia and the former owner of Goochi bar on Sihanouk Boulevard. “There aren’t enough police in Cambodia to do the job,” Channell said. “You have to police your own business.”
David Mitchell, the British owner of the Ginger Monkey bar, was stabbed to death at his apartment near the bar on Wednesday. Tong Chen, 18, a homeless man, was charged Friday with his premeditated killing. Mitchell’s girlfriend, New Zealand national Jane Nye, who was seriously wounded in the attack, is recovering in Bangkok.
The attack followed a series of events that have struck at the public image of the police. In recent weeks, a series of municipal police officials have been arrested for allegedly beating a suspect to death in police custody, assassinating judge Sok Sethamony in 2003 and attempting to kill both National Military Police Commander Sao Sokha and Municipal Court Chief Prosecutor Ouk Savouth.
Frits Mulder, owner of Frizz restaurant on Sisowath Quay, said he had little confidence in the police, who he characterized as “quite dubious.”
“I think police don’t do a lot except for when there’s money around. Otherwise, they’re not doing anything about crime,” he said. He added that he employs no security guards and has never had an incident in his two years in Phnom Penh.
Asked what he would do in an emergency, Mulder replied: “Good question. I don’t know.”
Rory Barry, the owner of Rory’s Pub, which is on the same street as the Ginger Monkey, said that in an emergency he would turn to a security firm. “I have one guard all night. That’s all you need. If there are problems, they have quick backup service,” said Barry, an Irish national.
He added that more municipal resources should be set aside for municipal police. “Police just say they don’t get paid enough to risk their lives…I can understand that,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea to pay some bunch of them more to patrol at night.”
Although police were able to apprehend Tong Chen within hours of the killing, Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth acknowledged that resources are generally limited.
“We cannot patrol all the streets, because there are many streets,” he said, adding that the public need to take sensible precautions. “People themselves should be careful and lock their doors when sleeping,” he said.
Christian Berger, Managing Director of MPA International Ltd, Cambodia’s largest security company, wrote in an e-mail that he empathized with Touch Naruth, adding that police and security officers have the same objectives. “I don’t think it’s a question of who you ‘trust’ more, but that the two are working together,” he wrote.
“The police will do their jobs with the resources they have. But when you consider that the average police salary in Cambodia is less than a garment factory worker’s, you have to stop and think.”
(Additional reporting by Van Roeun)
