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.