Public not reporting bomb hoaxes

Public not reporting bomb hoaxes

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As more and more building owners are reluctant to call the police
after receiving bomb threats, public safety is now at stake.

The main reason is that the supposedly free public service now
has a price tag.

Criminologist Adrianus Meliala from the University of
Indonesia, who often acts as an advisor to the police, said that
the police should take tough measures against officers who
demanded payment.

"This practice disrupts efforts to prevent terrorist attacks,
while it's the public that bears all the risk," he told The
Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) activist Luki Djani said the
excuse of budget constraints to justify police demanding payment
for their services was unacceptable as it was the right of
citizens to get security protection from the state.

"Police always say that they don't have the money to finance
their operations. But, we know that they get huge amounts of
money from illegal sources. Why don't they use that money to pay
the bomb squad?"

He asserted that many reports had showed that many police
officers had billions of rupiah in the bank, while a bomb squad
officer earned about Rp 1 million (less than US$100) a month.

A number of building managers in the capital complained
earlier that they were forced to make a deal on the payment
before the police agreed to send in the bomb squad to sweep the
buildings after receiving bomb threats.

Many of them, who received more than one call, suspected a new
mode of extortion.

The issue surfaced last week after the police made public
their displeasure with the management of French hypermarket
Carrefour which failed to inform them about a bomb threat and,
instead, deployed its internal security guards to sweep the
store.

The hypermarket opened the following day as no bomb was found
by the security guards.

The Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) stipulates that only
the police have the right and expertise to investigate terror
threats.

The police said that if there had been an explosion, the
hypermarket could have faced criminal charges for negligence
resulting in injuries.

Adrianus suggested that the police communicate with building
managers and convince them politely that they were not going to
disrupt the operations of the building.

"Furthermore, the public should stop giving money to the
police so it won't become a habit," he added.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said
that it was clear that police's internal regulations prohibit
officers from asking money for their services.

"It's bribery and abuse of power at the same time. We never
tolerate that. If we ever catch an officer asking money from the
public, we will punish him," he told the Post.

He said that public should refuse any demands for payment for
a bomb sweeping service, and immediately report the officers to
the Jakarta Police either by sending a text message to 1717 or by
calling the police hotline on 112.