National police chief to expel bad officers
JAKARTA (JP): National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo pledged to dismiss any unscrupulous officers in his force in order to build a clean corps.
"We don't want to keep shoddy officers in our force," the three-star general said yesterday, referring to last weekend's arrest of Capt. Unggul, head of the Serpong police subprecinct in Tangerang, for extortion.
"We'll fire any officers who tarnish the image of the police, or we'll ask them to resign," Dibyo told reporters after attending the 48th anniversary of Indonesia's female police force.
"We still have a large number of good officers," Dibyo, a former Jakarta police chief, said.
Capt. Unggul was detained over the weekend by officers of the Jakarta Police Internal Affairs Division for his alleged role in extorting money from a 70-year-old suspected gambling operator he and his personnel arrested earlier.
"The questioning session against him has not been completed yet," City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said yesterday.
Hamami, who also attended the female officers' anniversary, refused to explain further, saying that "everything's still under investigation".
Sources said that Unggul had reportedly asked one of the suspected gamblers for Rp 10 million (US$4,255) cash and a 1,000 square meter plot of land and promised to release him.
Arrest
Seven men were arrested for gambling on Friday at a mansion located at the Bumi Serpong Damai complex in Tangerang. One of the suspects is Pungut Supriyadi, the man Capt. Unggul asked concerning the money and plot of land.
After being released, Pungut reported the incident of extortion to a close friend of his, an officer at the Jakarta Police Internal Affairs Division.
Unggul was then detained the same day. His post as Serpong police precinct head was handed over abruptly yesterday evening to 1st Lieutenant Deddy Prasetyo from Jakarta Police Headquarters.
The handover ceremony, held under tight security at the Tangerang police precinct, was led by chief Lt. Col. Djoko Satryo.
No reporters were allowed to cover the event.
During yesterday's ceremony, Djoko also installed 1st Lieutenant Nursahid, head of the Jatiuwung police subprecinct, as the new head of the Tangerang police detectives to replace Capt. Ade Sutiana.
Ade has been in detention since last month for his alleged negligence that led to the escape of a female Ecstasy case suspect, Zarima.
A preliminary police investigation also revealed that he had allegedly lent his handphone to the suspect, who allegedly used it to contact her relatives to prepare her escape.
The whereabouts of the novice television actress remains unknown.
According to Lt. Gen. Dibyo, such unscrupulous officers have only spoiled the image of the whole corps. (bsr/28)