N. Jakarta has 1,110 officers

N. Jakarta has 1,110 officers

JAKARTA (JP): The North Jakarta mayoralty, with 1.1 million residents, has only 1,110 police officers, meaning that one officer serves 1,000 people.

The outgoing North Jakarta Police Precinct chief, Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira said over the weekend that ideally the government should double the number of officers, Antara reported.

The capital city, with a population of almost nine million, now has 16,000 police officers. This means one officer serves more than 800 citizens. Ideally, there should be one officer for every 300 citizens.

Abubakar said that in practice, officers in North Jakarta may serve even more than 1,000 people in North Jakarta. "Some of them may be sick or absent. This makes life tough for their colleagues," he said.

Abubakar will be installed today as new chief of Central Jakarta precinct, replacing S.Y. Wenas. Lt. Col. Muhammad Ibrahim is replacing Abubakar in North Jakarta.

Abubakar said that the Cilincing, Tanjung Priok, Koja and Penjaringan districts in North Jakarta are crime-ridden.

He said that he was doing his best. "The worst district gets a flag with a human skull. This is meant to encourage the district police chief to improve security in his area," he said. (sur)