Jakarta police praised for well done job
Jakarta police praised for well done job
JAKARTA (JP): The city police have been praised by the public
for their work in solving a number of challenging crimes
recently.
In the past few months, the police have resolved all "big and
difficult" cases, including last week's brutal murder of a mother
and her three young children in Ciracas, in a matter of days.
In the past, police have taken quite a long time to arrest
suspects in cases where worthy clues or key witnesses were not
found.
"Now I'm really proud of them," commented businesswoman
Maghdalena yesterday.
"As an ordinary person, I'd like to give a wholehearted salute
to the boss and all personnel of the city police for their
current outstanding reputation," said a motorcycle taxi driver.
The city police identified the suspects in the brutal killing
in Ciracas only one day after the tragedy took place and named a
47-year-old man and his teenage son and two nephews as the
suspects three days later, after the fingerprints found at the
scene had been matched with the suspects'.
The 11 suspects in July's robbery and brutal rape of a mother
and her two teenage daughters in Bekasi, about 30 kilometers east
of here, were arrested in a matter of days, thanks to the sperm
and blood stains found at the crime scene.
The Bekasi police precinct, which is overseen by the Greater
Jakarta Police, got a special award from President Soeharto for
that success. The President personally bestowed the
Abdisatyabakti Award on the chief of the detective unit of the
Bekasi precinct in a special ceremony at the State Palace a few
days after the arrests.
In March, city police arrested one of Indonesia's most wanted
criminals less than 30 hours after the culprit robbed a gas
station in East Jakarta, killing two employees in the process.
It seems that the city police have given up their former
methods of investigation, such as torturing people to extract
confessions.
Methods
Now, they are trying to employ scientific methods of crime
investigation; making the crime scene central to their
inquiries.
Many believe that the current favorable reputation of the city
police is mostly due to their talented and firm 'boss', Maj. Gen.
Dibyo Widodo.
With the support of his strong and competent personnel at the
crime investigation directorate, Dibyo, a former adjutant to
President Soeharto, prefers going to the scene of the crime and
interrogating the suspects to reading reports from his staff.
"In investigating criminal cases, we no longer need
confessions but strong material evidence," the 49-year-old city
police chief told reporters on Saturday after announcing the
arrest of the suspects in the Ciracas murder case.
By having strong evidence, police dossiers can be completed
easily and are more readily accepted by the prosecutors office,
he added.
Among members of Dibyo's noted crime investigation team are
Col. Nurfauzi, head of the city crime investigation directorate,
Lt. Col. Edi Darnadi, the directorate's secretary, Lt. Col.
Gories Mere, head of the general crimes section of the
directorate.
After being appointed Greater Jakarta police chief on Jan. 27,
Dibyo ordered all of his 15,000 personnel to investigate crime
scenes in a very professional way.
Dibyo, a typical straight-faced officer, said that most of the
recent success in crime-solving owed much to the strong
cooperation and support provided by all related police personnel.
A few days after his appointment, Dibyo made several changes
at the city police, including the demotion of undisciplined
personnel.
"Discipline is above everything," he said at that time.
Today, it is rare to see police officers driving cars
impounded for use as evidence.
Dibyo said that, despite the limited government budget for
supporting the city police, "We'll try all our best to continue
our efforts to become professional." (bsr)