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.