Police negligence results in escape of 24 detainees
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.