Brimob officers arrested for motorcycle theft

JAKARTA (JP): A gang of eight members of the elite police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) have been arrested for allegedly stealing a number of motorcycles, including some parked in their unit's compound in Jakarta Police Headquarters, an officer said.

City police spokesman Supt. Muhammad Nur Haji Usman told reporters on Friday that the actions of the Brimob officers constituted a major blow to the police force, which had just started to institute significant reforms.

"This is very embarrassing for us," Nur said, adding that the motorcycles stolen from police headquarters could include those which belonged to journalists.

"I was personally so angry that I could have set fire to them," Nur said, hopefully in jest, referring to a growing trend across the country, including the capital, where people take the law into their own hands, meeting out punishments such as death by burning for any suspected criminals.

According to officer Nur, the police have so far confiscated 51 motorcycles of various makes from the gang.

He identified the eight suspects only by their initials and ranks. All were first privates and had been in the force for two years.

In their operations, Nur said, the gang usually used a skeleton key to start the vehicles and make away with them.

All of them are now being detained in the Police Internal Affairs detention center, he said.

"Some of them acted as 'pickers' (thieves) while some of them were responsible for selling the vehicles," Nur said.

During preliminary investigations, the arrested Brimob officers admitted to having commenced the thefts in April of this year.

The arrest of the eight officers followed the confiscation of a stolen motorcycle from a man in West Jakarta late last month.

"The man said he had bought the vehicle from a Brimob officer. We then questioned the officer and he gave us other names," Nur said, adding that it was possible that police investigators would come up with more suspects later.

Rumors about the detention of the eight police officers have been circulating since Wednesday but nobody from the force was willing to comment on the matter.

Nur said that even though the police had been separated from the military, the suspected police officers would be charged under the Army Emergency Law (KUHDT) and the Military Crimes Emergency Law (KUHPM).

Nur said that the men could have committed the crimes because they had financial problems.

"Police should be well-recruited, well-educated, well-trained, and well-paid. The last of these requirements is certainly absent here (in Indonesia)," Nur said. (jaw)