National Police Force to be expanded for polls

JAKARTA (JP): The National Police announced yesterday a plan to expand its size and personnel in order to be better equipped for safeguarding the 1997 general election.

Declared on the heels of Tuesday's reorganization of the Army's special force (Kopassus), the planned expansion will mean the police force's elite Mobile Brigade will increase from 49 units to 56 units.

National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo said in a press conference, held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the police force on Monday, that each group consists of 90 specially- selected, qualified personnel.

In the past few weeks, the brigade's personnel, along with their military equipment, has been deployed to some of Jakarta's streets to curb the rising tide of protesters against a recent, government-backed dissension in the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

"We hope the expansion will be completed by this October," Dibyo said.

He said that the expansion of the elite police unit will also mean that its commander will have the rank of brigadier general. The units are currently commanded by colonels.

On Tuesday, Kopassus, which has an impressive record of putting down rebellions and of countering insurgency and terrorism, began enlarging its size and modernizing its weaponry.

Kopassus is being expanded from four units to five units, one of which will focus on counterterrorism, and its size expanded from 6,000 troopers to 10,000 troopers.

"The Police force also needs revamping," Dibyo said yesterday.

In line with the reorganization in the police force, Dibyo said, Indonesia's 27 provinces will each have their own regional police headquarters. This will also be conducted before the general election.

Currently, eight provinces are commanded by two headquarters.

Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and East Timor are under the Nusa Tenggara regional police, which has its headquarters on the tourist island of Bali.

Lampung, Bengkulu, Jambi and South Sumatra are under the umbrella of the South Sumatra regional police.

"The main object of the establishment of new regional police offices is to provide better services to the public," said Dibyo.

Speaking with The Jakarta Post after the meeting, the three- star general said that the Police plans to increase its recruits in 1996/1997.

"We'll have an additional 30,000 personnel. And this plan has been approved by Armed Forces Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung," he said.

Indonesia currently has 175,000 police personnel. (bsr)