Police beef up security to safeguard soccer, Mega<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The city police will double the number of security personnel
\nat the stadium to safeguard the final rounds of the Indonesian
\nSoccer League on Sunday to ensure that Thursday's bloody clashes
\namong soccer fans do not recur.<\/p>\n
"We will be deploying some 3,600 police personnel to safeguard
\nGelora Bung Karno stadium and its vicinity both before and after
\nthe match," Jakarta Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Makbul
\nPadmanegara said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
PSM, a club from Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi will play
\nPersija, a team from Jakarta in the finals of the Indonesian
\nLeague competition on Sunday at Gelora Bung Karno.<\/p>\n
Makbul said the city police would do its utmost to safeguard
\nthe public both inside and outside the stadium, saying that
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri would also come to the stadium
\nto watch the match.<\/p>\n
Makbul said all subprecinct police personnel will be backed by
\npersonnel from the Jakarta Military Command, and all would be
\nprepared to secure the capital.<\/p>\n
"We don't want to let it get chaotic again. We will take tough
\nmeasures against any violence and vandalism," he told reporters
\nfollowing a closed-door security meeting in preparation for the
\nemotionally-charged soccer match. The meeting was attended by all
\nof the subprecinct police chiefs.<\/p>\n
Thursday's soccer matches ended with violent clashes among
\nsupporters which spilled onto the main roads wherein several
\npassersby were beaten or robbed. The police had deployed some
\n1,800 officers, who were mostly concentrated inside the stadium
\nand its immediate vicinity.<\/p>\n
The clashes injured some 40 people, some of whom were still
\nbeing treated at a number of hospitals in the city.<\/p>\n
Although the police personnel would be doubled, Makbul warned
\nthe city's citizens to remain vigilant.<\/p>\n
"I suggest to the city's citizens to avoid passing through
\nroads around the venue during or after the match (3 p.m to 7 p.m.
\nSunday) due to expected traffic jams and potential violence," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said the main entry and exit routes around the stadium
\nwould not be closed, but would be tightly guarded.<\/p>\n
The deployment of security personnel will cover, among other
\nstreets, Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Asia Afrika, Jl. Gerbang Pemuda.
\n"There will be a group of five police officers every 20 meters,"
\nJakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said.<\/p>\n
Anton said the police have already begun searching supporters
\nfor weapons and reminding them to refrain from violence.<\/p>\n
"We've spoken to some 3,500 soccer supporters from
\nUjungpandang, landing at Tanjung Priok port (in North Jakarta),
\nand did not find any weapons," Anton said.<\/p>\n
Supporters of the two competing teams are actually not as
\nhistorically violent as Surabaya's soccer team Persebaya's
\nsupporters, who are known here as bonek (penniless hooligans) due
\nto their notorious hooliganism. Most of the violence on Thursday
\nwas blamed on Persebaya fans.<\/p>\n
Anton, however, warned that there have been indications of
\ndestructive behavior among the supporters, referring to the
\nUjungpandang fans outburst earlier this week on a stopover in a
\nSurabaya port in which 2,000 of them ran amok for no apparent
\nreason vandalizing the port area and hospitalizing several
\ninnocent bystanders.<\/p>\n
"We have prepared to cope with supporters of both soccer teams
\nbecause there have been signs that those supporters will conduct
\nactions which could harm other people," he was quoted as saying
\nby Detik.com.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-beef-up-security-to-safeguard-soccer-mega-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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