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.