Academy graduates 122 police cadets

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Police Academy graduated 122 students in a ceremony attended by National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman Astrosemito in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on Saturday.

In his speech, Gen. Banurusman urged the administrators of the Police Academy to improve professionalism, to anticipate the increasing number of crimes.

"Improvement of police services to the public needs the academy's role in preparing effective, efficient and modern police officers," Banurusman said.

Saturday's graduation raises the number of graduates from the academy, which was established in 1946, to 3,600 students, some of whom have occupied important posts in police force.

The police chief also asked the new graduates to improve their performances and professionalism.

Professionalism, according to Banurusman, is necessary to enable them to handle problems in the rapidly changing society, as is reflected by the improvement in people's knowledge, and by demand for openness, democratization, human rights improvement, and environment protection.

The general urged the Police Academy to closely cooperate with other institutes in research and development fields to enable the academy to really become a research and development institute for police science and technology.

The Police Academy's Governor Maj. Gen. Momo Kelana said that the academy is giving greater attention to vandalism and people participation in maintaining security and order.

He said that vandalism has the potential of increasing and becoming another major problem for the police.

Among the new graduates, three students passed exams with the highest records: Lieutenant Ricko Amelza Dahniel for academic achievement, Lieutenant Idham Azis for physical performance, and Capt. Alexander M. Mandalika for mental defense. (29)