Police get U.S. detector

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

The United States gave 60 metal detectors and 25 mirror detectors to police in Surabaya, East Java, on Thursday in an effort to prevent possible terrorist attacks in the country's second biggest city.

The assistance was handed over by U.S. Consul General Philip Antwheller to Surabaya Police chief Sr. Comr. Ade Raharja two days after a powerful hotel bomb killed at least 10 people in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Sumarsono, operations division chief of the local police, said the assistance would help security forces anticipate all kinds of terror attacks in Surabaya.

It was an expression by the American government of gratitude for the Surabaya police's capability in maintaining peace in the city, he added.

Sumarsono said his office would distribute the detectors to police precincts and subprecincts across Surabaya.

"Every precinct will receive four metal detectors and four mirror detectors, while 23 subprecints will get two metal detectors each," he said.

Ade Raharja said his office would deploy more police personnel to increase security in Surabaya following the JW Marriott Hotel blast.

After Thursday's ceremony, in which he received the detector assistance, the Surabaya Police chief briefed chief security guards of hotels in the city on how to prevent terror attacks.