Expert wants Kamra to be trained by police

Expert wants Kamra to be trained by police

JAKARTA (JP): An expert on police affairs claims that the
training given to People's Security (Kamra) members by the
military will lead to the militia's failure to best assist the
police in their duties.

The training arranged by the city military command did not
meet police requirements, Prof. Sadjipto Rahardjo, also a legal
expert at Semarang's Diponegoro University, told The Jakarta Post
by telephone on Friday.

"It's the police who should handle the Kamra training instead
of the Army because it's the police who have complete know-how in
regard to the community's security and order," he said from the
Central Java capital of Semarang.

He added that should the police be allowed to transfer their
knowledge to Kamra members, the presence of the civilian militia
in the capital would be far more productive in assisting the
police compared to their current performance.

The recruitment and training of the government-sponsored Kamra
program started here early last month and will last until the end
of next month.

The two-week Kamra training program includes, among other
things, physical exercise, disciplinary lessons and instruction
on patrol techniques, the law and human rights.

Sadjipto suggested the police, if at a later stage they are
allowed by the government to handle Kamra training, employ the
old methods of training that they utilized with recruits of
Police Assistance (Banpol) so that Kamra members could really
understand how to deal with problems within the community.

So far, the first two of four batches of Kamra graduates have
been dispatched by the military to police posts to start their
jobs, for which each member receives Rp 200,000 per month.

As reported earlier, many of them remain virtually idle except
for directing traffic. Some of them sometimes accompany police
officers on patrol or help safeguard events.

Some police officers appear confused as to what sort of work
they should be assigning to Kamra members, particularly
considering their lack of knowledge on police duties.

One media report early this week alleged that at least two
Kamra members had been ordered by police sergeants to collect
bribes from gambling operators in North Jakarta.

The report also said that several Kamra members had complained
about the public's unfriendly reaction to their presence.

Many motorists, for example, apparently ignore instructions
given by Kamra personnel managing traffic.

Just like the police, the Kamra members are required to show
up at their respective police posts at 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. But
they do not have tight work schedules.

Three to four hours per day are spent managing traffic. They
spend the remaining hours chatting to each other at the police
posts.

"We usually manage traffic at several crossroads here, and
once we were asked to safeguard a senior high school art
performance," said Kamra member Sunarto, who works in the Cempaka
Putih area in Central Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis
welcomed Sadjipto's idea, but said it would be best to let the
House of Representatives decide further.

Having the police train Kamra, he said, would at least enable
the police to know the individual characteristics of the Kamra
members and allow them to arrange their deployment accordingly.
(01/bsr)