Police chiefs ordered to focus on gambling and corruption

Police chiefs ordered to focus on gambling and corruption

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Thirteen new regional police chiefs took up their posts on Monday
with an order from National Police chief Gen. Sutanto to crack
down on gambling, illegal logging, corruption and terrorism.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Bambang Kuncoko said
Sutanto ordered the new regional police chiefs to step up law
enforcement in their respective jurisdictions, with a special
message for the police chiefs in Bali and South Sulawesi to be
particularly on the alert for violent attacks.

"The police chief asked the newly installed officers to adjust
to their new workplaces and immediately step us security measures
in their respective places of assignment," Bambang said.

In an unusual step, the induction ceremony for the new
regional chiefs was held behind closed doors, but Bambang did not
offer an explanation for the move.

Among the new regional chiefs is Brig. Gen. Sunarko D.
Ardhanto, the former National Police deputy spokesman who
replaces Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika as head of the Bali
Police. Meanwhile, former National Police spokesman Insp. Gen.
Aryanto Boedihardjo replaces Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf as chief of
the South Sulawesi Police.

"I will study the files transferred by Pak Saleh Saaf so I can
continue his policies in enforcing the law in the province,"
Aryanto said.

He said he would focus on efforts to address conflicts
involving either students or different communities in the
province.

A student brawl at Ujungpandang Polytechnic on Dec. 13 left
two people injured.

In September, police arrested 12 students from Makassar State
University following a clash between students from two
departments.

Bali has suffered two major terrorist attacks in the last
three years. Twenty people were killed in three suicide bombings
on Oct. 1 this year, and 202 people died in a bombing on Oct. 12,
2003.

Neta S. Pane of Indonesian Police Watch sees the installation
of the new regional police chiefs as a move by Sutanto to
strengthen his priority programs, particularly the eradication of
gambling, which is illegal in the country.

"The officers appointed to the regional police chief posts are
all antigambling officers. Sutanto hopes to achieve his goal of
eradicating gambling in the country, something that eluded him at
the beginning of his tenure as police chief," Neta told The
Jakarta Post.

When Sutanto became National Police chief in July, he gave
regional police chiefs one week to shut down all gambling dens in
their jurisdictions and prosecute anyone involved in the illegal
business. Despite some widely publicized raids and arrest, the
initiative eventually lost steam.

"We think this is a positive effort by Sutanto to enforce the
law in the country. We should also note that he did not appoint
his classmates (from the Police Academy) to the new posts, but
people who are considered capable of getting the job done," Neta
said.

He said Sutanto's predecessor, Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, had
appointed "mostly fellow 1972 Police Academy graduates" to key
posts in the National Police.