Police pledge to protect churches
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police personnel nationwide pledged on Tuesday that they would beef up security at churches during Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations.
The Police bomb squad will comb churches in search of bombs before Christmas sermons were held, and some churches would be equipped with metal detectors.
Every church leader in South Sulawesi will be tightly guarded by police officers, everywhere they go.
In addition, the South Sulawesi provincial police department officers will also deploy four to 10 officers to guard each church in the province, according to chief of South Sulawesi provincial police Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf.
South Sulawesi province is home to 683 churches.
In Bandung, police officers said they would intensify security at 36 churches in the city.
Bandung police chief Sr. Comr. Sulistyono added that there would be metal detectors at some of the larger churches in the city, while Bandung police would deploy some 7,200 officers at all 36 churches, in addition to the bomb squad officers, who would be on high alert.
The tight security measures are not only stepped up at churches but also in shopping malls and other public places in Bandung.
In Medan, some 2,600 police personnel were ready to be deployed at 529 churches in the city during Christmas celebrations. On top of that, the Medan city government has also instructed local subdistrict and district heads to help the police guard churches in their respective areas, said Medan city spokesman, Ramli.
In Sidoarjo city, East Java, a senior police officer called on churchgoers not to bring large packages that might raise suspicions.
Adj. Sr. Comr. Ronald F. Sompie, the chief of the Sidoarjo police, urged churchgoers to bring only Bibles during Christmas celebrations, in order to make it easy for police to check them.
The tight security measures at churches have been standard procedure nationwide since 2001, following a simultaneous, multipronged bomb attack on churches in several cities across the country a year earlier, which killed at least 19 people. -- Antara