Armed officials under review

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A city public order officer shot a member of a gang, who died a day later on Thursday, leading to an intensive police investigation and a review of a three-decade old policy to arm administration officials.

The officer, identified as Krisman Siregar, is now being detained at Jakarta Police Headquarters.

According to Jakarta Public Order Agency head Soebagio, the suspect is the head of an operation unit.

"The incident is too costly a lesson for us. We will look into the case to find out what is wrong with the policy (to allow the officers to carry firearms)," he said.

Soebagio added that currently at least 40 heads of operation units carry firearms.

The agency has a total of 70 revolvers.

The public order officers have been using guns in their operations since the 1970s. Aside from public order officers, officers from the Jakarta Transportation Agency are also allowed to use guns.

According to Law No. 8/1948 on the possession and use of firearms, a civilian is allowed to possess a gun only with a permit issued by the National Police.

Jakarta Police detectives chief Sr. Comr. Mathius Salempang said that the incident on Wednesday afternoon took place after a quarrel with the victim, identified only as Albert, 39, a member of a gang led by Hercules who has made his name in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Albert was shot in the head and fell into a coma. He died on Thursday after being treated at Thamrin Hospital, Central Jakarta.

"The cause of the quarrel remains unclear," he said, adding that the police were still looking at a video recording of the incident, taken by an unidentified person.

According to Soebagio, Albert was a guard at an empty 6.2- hectare plot of land on Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, where some 100 public order officers were deployed to help watch over the fencing of the site.

"The fencing was based on a request by local residents who complained about the presence of unidentified people occupying the site," he revealed.

Soebagio said the site belonged to state oil and gas company Pertamina, but the police said that PT Multi Angsana Ganda which represents businesswoman Dewi and Kosim Zein, also filed a claim as the owner of the land.

The shooting has sparked fears of a retaliatory attack by the victim's friends, who tried to enter the City Hall on Thursday.(001)