Police negligence results in escape of 24 detainees
Leo Wahyudi S, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The negligence of police officers has resulted in the escape of 24 detainees from the Senen Police substation on Jl. Stasiun Senen, Central Jakarta, early on Friday.
Four of the escapees surrendered to the Central Jakarta Police at around 6 p.m., said the station chief Sr. Comr. Edmond Ilyas.
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara confirmed earlier that the police had fallen short of their duties in guarding the detainees.
"The incident took place due to our weakness and inattentiveness," he said.
"I order the substation and station chiefs to investigate the incident."
Makbul also told the police to apologize to the people for their negligence and to promise to probe the case and arrest the escapees immediately.
"I won't let my members repeatedly do wrong," he said, adding that police officers, as law enforcers, did not have any privileges.
Makbul confirmed that the three cells at the substation were overcrowded.
None of the police officers at the substation were willing to comment about the incident due to the lack of instruction by the Senen substation chief.
Most of them simply said: "I don't know exactly."
The Senen substation deputy chief, Adj. Comr. Ali Wahyudi, who was available at the scene, also declined to comment, saying: "I won't give any comment. All reports have been submitted to our superiors."
The Senen substation only has three cells, each nine square meters which can only accommodate, at the most, 10 detainees.
Before the incident took place, 60 criminals had to share the small cells which, according to Makbul, "do not meet the prerequisites".
Most of the escapees were detained on suspicion of stealing, robbery and drug trafficking.
The 24 detainees allegedly broke out though the cell roof on Friday at 3:30 a.m. after breaking the plywood ceiling and bending the steel bar.
One by one, the detainees freed themselves from the man-sized hole in the ceiling before jumping to the backyard, which serves as a vegetable patch, outside the police station. The police found their footprints on the patch.
A 22-year-old scavenger, Jonny, saw 10 of the escapees run through the nearby Senen railway station.
"They dispersed in various directions near the slums," Jonny said, adding that he saw the last escapee at around 5:30 a.m. walking slowly pass the railway station.
He claimed he could not identify the escapees' face or their clothing due to the darkness in the rainy morning.
Jonny, who was detained in 1994 in the same cell for pickpocketing, said the security was tight and strict. He expressed shock at seeing the criminals leave freely.
Ronny, another witness, skeptically said that the police officers might have been drunk and could not stay awake to guard the detainees. The 25-year-old saw the last escapee at 5:30 a.m. before the police arrived at the station at around 6 a.m.