Police chief demoted due to harassment

Eva C. Komandjaja and Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta/Bandung

Head of Bogor police Sr. Comr. Tjiptono was demoted from his position on Friday as a result of ongoing investigation into his alleged role in a sexual harassment case.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko told reporters on Friday that Tjiptono, who had been the police chief for only three months, would be replaced by current Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Sukrawardi Dahlan.

"After the handover ceremony scheduled next week, Tjiptono will be posted as a middle-ranked officer at the West Java Police department," Soenarko said.

Replacing Sukrawardi as the Central Jakarta Police chief is Sr. Comr. Bambang Hermano who was previously the chief of detectives at the Maluku Police.

Soenarko said that the public should not draw conclusions as to whether Tjiptono was guilty or not in the harassment case since the investigation was still in progress.

However, West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Edi Darnadi said in Bandung that Tjiptono was demoted and moved to another position because he was about to face a disciplinary hearing.

"Tjiptono clearly violated the police's code of ethics since he had gone beyond the regulations," he said.

Apart from the internal affairs division, the police are also investigating Tjiptono for possible criminal charges.

Since November, the former Jakarta Police spokesman had been under investigation following reports that he had fondled and kissed his secretary several times in the office. A policewoman also said that she had been sexually harassed by Tjiptono.