"Casino" in police college

It's interesting to see how different newspapers write about the same press conference. Today, a police story caught my eyes - it is quite amusing, in contrast to the usual serious and straightforward crime stories. It talked about police setting up a mock casino in the police school, to arm the policemen with knowledge on gambling games so that they could tackle illegal gambling more effectively.

I read the same story in three local English dailies. Two played up the mini casino angle while one focused on a "guide on violent crime probe" instead.

(Background: Muslims are forbidden to gamble in their religion so people would be very curious to know why is there a "casino" to teach the policemen, who are mostly Malays and therefore Muslims, to "gamble".)

The three leads are:

(The Star)

There is a mini casino in the Cheras police college but don't bet on catching policemen gambling for real.

The mock casino is actually a training ground for policemen to wise up the ways of gamblers and cheats.

(Malay Mail)

Illegal gamblers beware as "gambling experts" will be watching you.

However, these "experts" actually comprise several trained police officers under the newly formed Gambling Prevention Training Laboratory.

The formation of the was (sic) set up to combat illegal gambling activities.

(NST)

The nation's top cop yesterday unveiled the new manual for investigating violent crime such as rape, murder and armed robbery.

... and somewhere in the middle of the story...

Besides the manual, Ismail also launched a mock casino designed to train police officers involved in cracking down on illegal gambling.

***

In terms of grabbing the readers' attention, I would say The Star has done the trick. Everyone - gambler or not - would would want to know why there is a casino in police college, while Malay Mail's story is somewhat directed at "illegal gamblers" only. And NST? Just another police story.

I'd pick The Star as the best story for it is most detailed. It brought in the guide on violent crime probe later while Malay Mail didn't mention it at all. The Star also quoted Inspector-General of Police on his confidence in his men (that they would not abuse their knowledge in gambling):

"Insya Allah (God willing), they will know their responsibilities and will not go against their badge," he said.

Speaking of quotes, I also noticed that both The Star and NST have similar quotes with slightly different wording.

(The Star)

"To catch a thief, we need to think like a thief," said Inspector-General of Police.

(Malay Mail)

"There is a proverb: 'To catch a thief, you need to be a thief'. This concept also applies here. Every year, the Royal Malaysian Police organises courses to train 'gambling experts' among selected police officers."

My guess is that the reporters translated and paraphrased the quotes, which is a common practice here.