Police launch traffic center

JAKARTA: The Jakarta Police introduced on Monday a new Traffic Management Center to monitor traffic throughout the capital.

"This is part of our effort to modernize our services," city police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said.

The Rp 2.3 billion center, on Jl. MT Haryono in South Jakarta, is supported by closed-circuit TV cameras located in 50 strategic areas throughout the capital, plus global positioning systems (GPS) that have been placed in police cars.

"With the CCTVs, we can monitor traffic from the center. And if, for example, a car is stolen in one area of Jakarta, we will use the GPS to find the nearest police patrol car and dispatch it to the scene immediately," said the head of the city's traffic police, Sr. Comr. Djoko Santoso. -- JP