Gas pistol training begins for city security officers

Gas pistol training begins for city security officers

JAKARTA (JP): The City Administration has started training
selected public order and civil defense officers to use gas
pistols, an official said on Monday.

"The selected officers have been trained by former members of
the Indonesian Military," Head of the City Public Order Office
Hadi Utomo said.

He said that the training session, which started last week,
involves 30 people from the public order and civil defense
officers.

The City Public Order office has spent Rp 1.2 billion to
purchase 60 gas pistols to equip its public order and civil
defense officers on the grounds that they need them for self
defense in case of attacks during operations to restore order.

Given the worsening security conditions, the city
administration had originally planned to buy 500 pistols.

Each gas pistol, which has an effective shooting range of up
to 10 meters and weighs 660 grams with the magazine capacity of
seven bullets, can paralyze a person for 10 minutes due to its
anesthetic effect.

The city administration has spent Rp 20 million for each .9
millimeter caliber German-made Melcher pistol, with a 100 mm
barrel, including training and license fees provided by the
National Police headquarters.

Hadi reconfirmed that operational unit commanders would get
priority in receiving the pistols, but he refused to reveal when
armed officers would be deployed.

As part of preparatory safety measures, the city office has
tested selected officers entitled to carry the weapon. The
testing is aimed at determining the psychological and technical
preparedness of an officer in possession of a firearm.

According to official data, the capital has at least 3,000
city public order officers, including new recruits who were
formerly members of the now defunct People's Security (Kamra)
civilian guard.

Some council members had earlier lodged strong complaints
about the project, saying that the cost of Rp 20 million for each
pistol was too high. They also questioned the urgency for civil
officers to possess the pistol.

Contacted separately, the City Council's deputy speaker Djafar
Badjeber said on Monday the council had nothing to complain about
with regards to the allocation fund for the pistol.

"We agree that public order officers should be armed due to
security reasons," he told The Jakarta Post by phone. (04)