Police with bad record appointed as Bogor chief

The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Former West Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Wasgito was installed as Bogor Police chief on Tuesday, replacing Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam who had been in office for 14 months, in a ceremony led by West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Dadang Garnida.

Anton, formerly the Jakarta Police spokesman, was appointed as head of the internal affairs division at the Bali Police.

Before being installed as the Bogor Police chief, Bambang served at the National Police transnational crime division since last August. His mutation by the National Police was conducted after there was an extortion allegation upon him.

His new position was also questioned by Police Watch.

"The public know that Bambang has a bad record. I think his installment will have a negative impact on the police attempt to improve its image," said Rashid Lubis, chairman of Police Watch. "It proves collusion practices still exist within the police."

In mid last year, Bambang was accused of extorting several traditional Chinese medicine vendors. The National Police had also received copies of receipts suggesting that Bambang and some of his subordinates had received millions of rupiah from heads of gambling and entertainment dens in Glodok, West Jakarta.

The receipts revealed, among others, that Bambang spent Rp 60 million (US$7,143) for his car installment and another Rp 2 million in karaoke clubs.

National Police internal affairs grilled Bambang last June on the allegation but the result of the investigation was never made public.