JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA - State police will focus crime-fighting efforts in 15 areas that have been categorised as hot spots in the state.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the 15 areas were identified from data collected from operation rooms of the National Key Result Areas (NKRA) for crime prevention.

The areas were identified by an NKRA committee in charge of lowering the crime index, especially that of petty crime.

Hishammuddin said it was the ministry's aim to reduce the nation's overall crime index by five per cent, including reducing the index of petty crime by 20 per cent by the end of next year.

"Besides reducing the rate of crime, the police are aiming to reduce the number of crime hot spots," he said at the handing-over ceremony of the Danga Bay police station from the Danga Bay management, represented by chief executive officer Datuk Lim Kang Hoo, to the Johor police, represented by police chief Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff.

A signature ceremony marked the handing-over of the police station's building and equipment. The station is housed in Rumah Limas Utama, the main traditional Malay house among eight in Danga Bay.

Hishammuddin lauded the effort by developers such as Danga Bay for jointly setting up a police station that would benefit the public, in line with the Iskandar Malaysia Safety and Security Framework, and urged members of the private sector to follow suit.

The framework calls for 2,000 closed-circuit television cameras costing RM41.4 million (S$17 million), 200 auxiliary policemen to be stationed in the area (RM7 million) and 138 community police posts (RM55 million).