Basic training course a must for city's 'satpam'

By Prapti Widinugraheni

JAKARTA (JP): The rise in brutal crime has put the fear of God into many Jakartans.

Many households and most offices in Jakarta already employ security guards, known as satpam.

In their white and navy blue, satpam are often taken for granted. People have better things to do than look into a satpam's wary eyes.

But you'll know when a satpam is doing his job when, for example, he calls out to a visitor to make sure he has his visitor's badge, or when he questions a suspicious-looking stranger.

These things are part of a satpam's job.

Col. Wenny Setiawan, the head of the Jakarta Police Community Supervision Directorate said: "They are an example of public participation... They are at the front line of the community's defense."

Wenny said that to get a good, reliable satpam, an employer should make sure he has proper training.

"A satpam has two 'heads'; the firm, house or office at which he or she is employed, and the police, from whom he -- or she -- gets training," Wenny told The Jakarta Post.

New satpam must enroll in one of the several training courses held by the police, Wenny said.

The satpam training courses last between two weeks and three months.

"You need nothing special to become a satpam. You just have to be physically and mentally healthy and have no handicaps," he said.

Two-week courses are held at local police precincts and consist mainly of basic satpam skills, such as neighborhood patrolling, traffic control and self-defense. Introductory Pancasila courses are also given here.

One-month to three-month training courses are held by the National Police at the National Police School in Lido, West Java, and teach more sophisticated things such as investigative procedures and the prevention and extinguishing of fires, as well as bomb threats.

Wenny said these longer courses are usually aimed at satpam at high-risk places like banks, the state electricity company and other important government entities.

The satpam will probably have undergone these courses and know how to handle a gun.

Lt. Col. Winarno, the head of the Satpam Supervision section, said that two-week courses cost between Rp 175,000 and Rp 200,000 per person (US$76 to $86) while one-month courses cost Rp 400,000.

"We know there are some private training agencies, but I wouldn't recommend them because after assessing satpam from there, we felt they didn't meet our standards," Winarno told the Post.

He said these private agencies, whose trainers are mostly former police officers, charge about Rp 550,000 for a one-month course.

Wenny acknowledged that many satpam in Jakarta have not received any training at all. "To some extent, this is understandable, because sending a satpam off for training means you are one man short," he said.

According to police data, of Jakarta's 61,570 satpam, 40,223 have been on the two-week course and 10,447 on the one-month course.

About 6,958 have no training at all while 3,942 are former or retired members of the Armed Forces who may or may not have already taken a "refresher course".

Wenny said many companies fail to take security seriously enough and only feel the need for it after the harm has been done.

"Security is like paying insurance. It's something you have to pay for to avoid having to pay even more," he said.

Wenny said that although satpam training courses may be held by both the police and "certain private companies appointed by the police", he would tolerate no such thing as a satpam agency.

"If you come across such agencies, call me and I'll get my men to give them a warning... They are breaking the law," he said.

Wenny argued that satpam cannot be compared to household servants, who can be recruited and brokered by agencies.

"If the satpam makes a blunder, for instance, will the agency take responsibility? What satpam basically do is the police's job, that's why we train them and are responsible for them," he said.

Wenny said the police is currently cracking down on such agencies. Earlier this year, he instructed police precincts officers to make a list of satpam agencies in their areas.

The agencies are then given a warning and, if unheeded, their licenses may be revoked.

"Being a satpam is a profession. A Satpam is not a tukang ronda malam (voluntary neighborhood watch), nor are they centeng (thugs). They don't just open the door for people," Wenny said.

"Satpam are employees of a company, they have their own organization and have the same rights as any other employee."