Cop with bad record made chief

Cop with bad record made chief

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former West Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Wasgito was
installed as the Bogor Police chief on Tuesday, replacing Sr.
Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam who had been in office for 14 months, in
a ceremony led by West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Dadang
Garnida.

Anton, formerly Jakarta Police spokesman, was appointed head
of the Bali Police's internal affairs division.

Before being installed as Bogor Police chief, Bambang served
at the National Police transnational crime division since last
August. His promotion occurred after an extortion allegation had
been leveled against him.

His new position has been questioned by Police Watch.

"The public knows that Bambang has a bad record. I think his
installment will have a negative impact on the police's attempt
to improve their image," said Rashid Lubis, chairman of Police
Watch. "It proves collusion still exists within the police."

In mid last year, Bambang was accused of extorting money from
several traditional Chinese medicine vendors. The National Police
also received copies of receipts suggesting that Bambang and some
of his subordinates had received millions of rupiah from managers
of gambling and entertainment dens in Glodok, West Jakarta.

The receipts revealed, among other things, that Bambang had
spent Rp 60 million (US$7,143) on a car and Rp 2 million in
karaoke halls.

National Police internal affairs question Bambang last June in
connection with the allegation, but the result of the
investigation was not made public.