Police, military gear up for Xmas and New Year
Police, military gear up for Xmas and New Year
The Jakarta Post, Surabaya/Cirebon/Bandarlampung
Military and police forces will deploy thousands of their
personnel across the country in a joint effort to ensure regional
security during the annual Christmas and New Year's holidays,
officers said on Friday.
They said the security personnel will be stationed mainly at
churches and other public facilities in anticipation of possible
attacks on Christmas Eve following the Bali and Makassar
bombings.
Police have said the suspects in the bomb attacks had planned
more attacks on churches across the country, especially on
Christmas Eve.
East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Heru Susanto said around
23,000 police and military personnel will provide security for
people celebrating the Christmas and New Year's festivals in the
province.
The tight security would be concentrated at a number of
churches that were believed to cater to a large congregation and
thus had been deemed prone to possible disturbances, he added.
Surabaya Police chief Sr. Comr. Ito Sumardi echoed Heru's
statement, saying at least 133 of around 300 churches across the
nation's second largest city would receive tighter security
measures.
"At least 43 of them will be given special attention by the
security forces, as they have many more church members than
others," he added.
Ito said that in Surabaya alone there would be around 3,200
police and military personnel on duty to secure the celebrations
in the city.
The Surabaya office of the United States consulate general
would be among those locations receiving heightened security, he
said.
He said that as part of the preventive measures against
troublemakers, the police would launch street raids on weapons,
drugs, alcoholic drinks and other illegal and dangerous items
during the celebrations.
In the Central Java capital of Semarang, more than 11,000
police personnel will be on duty during the Christmas and New
Year's celebrations.
Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi said
security would be upgraded mainly in churches in anticipation of
security disturbances.
"Police will check churches two hours before Christmas
services," Didi was quoted by Antara as saying.
He appealed to the public not to celebrate Christmas and New
Year's with firecrackers and warned that the use of firecrackers
was banned because it could easily be misused with an intent to
cause harm.
Didi said his personnel had been monitoring factories that
produce firecrackers, and that police would take stern measures
should they insist on selling the firecrackers, he added.
In the West Java city of Cirebon, thousands of other joint
security forces will provide tight security for 26 churches,
where some 15,000 Christians will attend Christmas celebrations
and services.
Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Siswandi said at least 340
personnel with special combat and intelligence expertise would be
among those deployed at churches.
Extra security would be provided for the three biggest
churches in Cirebon: Bunda Maria Church on Jl. Dukuh Semar, Santo
Joseph Church on Jl. Yos Sudarso and the Indonesian Christian
Church on Jl. Pangampon, he said.
Siswandi said paramilitary groups affiliated with social and
political groups would be involved in the joint security for
Christmas and New Year's.
He added that security personnel would continually comb all
churches beginning three days prior to Christmas to secure the
areas.
"We will protect these areas from any threats. Guarding this
year's Christmas holiday is not a game," Siswandi added.
Similarly, the Lampung provincial police and military said
they would also deploy most of their personnel to secure the
Christmas and New Year's holiday season.
"We will deploy two-thirds of our existing personnel for the
two celebrations," local police spokeswoman Comr. Fatmawati told
journalists in the province's capital of Bandarlampung. She did
not specify the exact number of the deployed forces.
Fatmawati said security would be tightened mainly at strategic
locations that were vulnerable to crimes and accidents, such as
at Bakauheni Ferry Port, Rajabasa Bus Terminal, Radin Intan
Airport, shopping and entertainment centers, and along the trans-
Sumatra highway.