Moonlighting common among police officers

Moonlighting common among police officers

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"We need to find other sources of income beside our salary," said
First Sgt. Yono (not his real name), a 36-year-old officer of the
police's Mobile Brigade, adding that his monthly salary was
around Rp 1 million (US$111.11).

The amount is only a bit higher than the minimum cost of
living for laborers, set by the manpower ministry at Rp 759,532.

"As long as our commander knows in advance, we can take the
job. Besides, guarding people or a company is a good thing," Yono
said over the weekend.

He added that the offer to guard a place or secure an event
could come from their commander or a colleague, many of whom
actively seek clients.

Yono said he preferred to get information about a job from a
colleague rather than his commander, as company owners or event
organizers would directly negotiate with the commander.

"If the job is offered by a colleague, we can get more money
as we directly negotiate with our 'employer'. Still, we must
inform our commander and hand over some 'commission' from our
fee," he said.

According to Yono, most of the time his unit commander would
take care of inter-unit coordination.

"Low-ranking officers like me know nothing. All we know is we
have to safeguard a place, people or event. I'm sure the eight
Mobile Brigade officers who secured the Bojong dump relied on
their commander in coordinating with other forces," he said.

Yono was referring to the eight Mobile Brigade officers who
were guarding the Bojong waste treatment facility in Bogor
regency, West Java, when a protest by locals -- opposing the
presence of the plant -- turned violent in a clash between the
protesters and the officers.

Witnesses said the Mobile Brigade officers fired live bullets
at the protesters, injuring six of them.

The involvement of Brimob officers was also questioned by
legislators. Moreover, Bogor Police denied that the plant's
operator, PT Wira Guna Sejahtera, had ever requested that the
officers guard the site. In fact, Bogor Police chief Sr. Comr.
Bambang Wasgito claimed that the Mobile Brigade officers had been
hired by the operator.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman denied that many
of his officers had taken side jobs, but admitted that Mobile
Brigade officers could not guard a place without an order from
their chief.

"We are still questioning them to discover whether they
received a direct order (from their commander) to guard the
plant. Please, wait for the result. If they did not get an order,
we will punish them accordingly," he said.

Six low-ranking police officers were questioned by the police
ethics committee in a hearing on Friday. They denied involvement
in the bloody clash.

Another Mobile Brigade officer, First Private Yadi, (also not
his real name), 24, said the officers' monthly salary was barely
enough to feed their families.

"That's why we must be 'clever' in moonlighting. As long as we
don't neglect our duty, the offer to guard places, people or
events is the right choice, rather than abusing our power, or
committing a crime," he said.

He said that many officers from different units of the police
force had been involved in protecting drug dealing, gambling or
prostitution rackets.

"Almost all military officers do the same thing. My colleagues
in Bojong were just unlucky that the incident made national
headlines," he added.