Police livelihood ready for upgrade: Chief

JAKARTA (JP): National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman says that the social welfare of police personnel and their families must be improved in order for them to provide maximum service to the public.

"If their social welfare is not given due attention it might give rise to collusions between police personnel and other parties," Banurusman said in his written statement at the technical meeting of the police inspectorate general officials in Cisarua, West Java, yesterday.

In the statement released by the National Police Public Relations office the four-star general said that the improvement of the social welfare conditions and other facilities needed by the police personnel should be seriously and properly taken into consideration.

Banurusman, therefore, asked the meeting participants, who were officers in charge of overseeing the minimal police budget, to further discuss and analyze the current problems in order to correct them immediately.

He also urged his inspectorate general officers to keep monitoring the leakage on the police budget.

He said police patrolmen, for instance, have been forced to find money their own way to buy petrol for their mobile operation due to the very limited funds available. (bsr)