Police chief check 1st set of Kamra graduates
JAKARTA (JP): City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman has asserted that the People's Security force will not be deployed to help police handle street protesters.
"No. They (Kamra personnel) will only help police direct traffic, secure residential areas and patrol areas," the two-star general announced after briefing the first batch of Kamra graduates at the Senayan indoor tennis courts on Tuesday.
According to Noegroho, the first batch of civilian militia has been posted at the city's eight police precincts to help police safeguard the capital.
"The Kamra personnel are assigned to help police in preventing unrest. Their duties will include giving public guidance and public service," he said.
"If it happens that in their area there's a man suspected of theft, a militia member has the right to check. If the man is proved to be a thief, the militia man can arrest the suspect and take him or her to a nearby police post."
However, Kamra personnel are not allowed to make any arrests before they have evidence.
Those assigned to help direct traffic are not allowed to ticket motorists, Noegroho said.
The civil militia, he added, also has the authority to receive reports and complaints from the public, and they have to coordinate with the local police precincts in any follow-up.
Tuesday's briefing was attended by all Kamra graduates from the first batch, which police said totaled 2,961 personnel.
The number differs slightly from the military's figure of 3,000.
It remains unclear whether the remaining 39 recruits failed the Kamra training program or were assigned to other programs.
As reported earlier, the second group of 3,000 recruits started the two-week training program on Monday at several Armed Forces installations in Greater Jakarta.
Of the 2,961 Kamra graduates briefed by Noegroho on Tuesday, 159 have been posted at the Central Jakarta Police station; 98 personnel in North Jakarta; 408 in West Jakarta; 143 in South Jakarta; 189 in East Jakarta; 794 in Tangerang; 400 in Depok and the remaining 770 in Bekasi.
One Kamra member, Jadi Utomo, 22, said he joined the government-sponsored scheme, which pays Rp 100,000 during training and Rp 200,000 as a monthly salary during deployment, after being jobless for six months in the capital.
"I saw Kamra's registration announcement at the Military District Command near my boardinghouse," Jadi, who hails from Wungu district in the remote area of Madiun regency in East Java, told The Jakarta Post after the briefing ceremony.
Jadi, who has been posted at the traffic unit of Tebet Police substation in South Jakarta, was left alone at the venue by his colleagues after the event.
According to Jadi, who always dreamed of being a soldier, the Kamra's training at Jakarta Military Command Headquarters usually started early in the morning and lasted until 10 p.m.
"The main component of the training is marching. But we also had classroom lessons on human rights, guarding technics, patrol technics and law for two to three hours a day," Jadi, a slim young man, recalled.
The most interesting thing for him during the training was the Pencak Silat traditional martial art.
"It's a little more modern than the Pencak Silat I had during my school days," he added.
He said no guns or machetes were used during training.
"We just used bare hands during the self-defense exercises," Jadi, who lives in Jakarta with his taxi driver brother, said.
He said none of the instructors gave lessons on political issues but instead emphasized how Kamra members were to assist police officers in maintaining law and order.
Jadi explained that the Kamra members are divided into three categories: the marching division, the traffic division and the self-defense division.
He was assigned to the traffic division and said he did not know the criteria behind the divisions. (emf/01)