Community guards train for psy-ops

JAKARTA: As many as 1,700 of some 30,000 community security guards who are members of the Hansip force in the city will receive training on how to handle demonstrators.

Among the subjects to learn are the mob psychology and techniques to calm down large groups and to find the provocateurs, Head of the City Public Order and People's Protection Office, Subagio, said Tuesday.

He made the statement after attending a ceremony to observe the 41st anniversary of Hansip with Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno as the inspector, Antara reported.

Besides Hansip, there are more than 2,000 community guards called Banpol members assigned to the city's mayoralty offices and City Hall, Subagio said, adding that Banpol had 100 motorcycles which could be used as patrol vehicles.

The organization of Hansip was created on April 19, 1962 based on a decree from the minister of defense.

In its development, the city administration, through its decree No. 3/2001, put Hansip under the Public Order Office.

Jakarta has 29,680 Hansip members who receive a monthly salary of Rp 350,000 each. The administration plans to increase their wages to Rp 750,000 this year.

In 2003, the administration allocated Rp 5.5 billion for the City Public Order officers. As much as Rp 300 million is for street operations, especially against pak Ogah (amateur traffic regulators).--JP