'Elang' team to battle bombs, terror
'Elang' team to battle bombs, terror
JAKARTA (JP): The city police's anti-terror and bomb squad
completed a six-day training program on Monday aimed at
sharpening their skills in dealing with bomb and terrorist
related crimes.
Squad instructor Adj. Sr. Comr. Amri Kamil of the National
Police Headquarters said the team, code named Elang (eagle), was
tasked with responding to bomb incidents and launching
investigations into suspects and motives behind such crimes.
"The team members have to be able to secure the blast sites so
as to allow other officers to collect as much evidence as
possible from the crime scene," Amri said, adding that in most
bombings police were slow in securing the locations, resulting in
a lot of important evidence being damaged.
Amri has just finished a similar training program with the
Louisiana State Police in the United States.
The 135-member team includes members of the Sabhara unit, the
intelligence unit, the detective unit and the Gegana bomb squad.
Amri spoke to the media during a ceremony held to mark the end
of the training program at Jakarta Police Headquarters.
During the ceremony, the team demonstrated their skills in
securing a blast site and collecting evidence after a bomb was
detonated in a car.
"We use power-gel explosives. It is a commercial explosive
product and very expensive," said Amri who was accompanied by
Gegana commander Adj. Sr. Comr. Boni Tampoi.
Besides destroying the blue sedan, the blast also broke the
glass in several windows of a building adjacent to the field.
The powerful blast, however, was mistakenly thought by
motorists passing police headquarters to be a real bomb
explosion. Heavy traffic jams occurred along Jl. Sudirman shortly
after the blast at around 10:20 a.m. after motorists stopped and
looked into the police headquarters grounds.
Personnel from the traffic police unit were immediately
deployed to handle the congestion, encouraging motorists to
continue their journey because the blast was merely a training
exercise.
"I never thought the bomb could be so convincing," a police
traffic officer said, admitting that she was the first to panic
upon hearing the blast. (emf)