Traffic cop passes chief's bribery test

Traffic cop passes chief's bribery test

JAKARTA (JP): City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto
recently rode his Harley Davidson motorcycle incognito, to test
one of his traffic officers in Senayan. After purposefully going
the wrong way in a one-way street, Hindarto tried to bribe his
way out of trouble.

Much to his pleasure, the officer, who did not recognize the
police chief under the helmet, refused the Rp 50,000 bill he
tried to pass in place of his driving license, which he claimed
he had left at home.

Recalling the incident he had on Sunday a week ago, Hindarto
told reporters that the officer then asked for some kind of
identification.

"So I took out my ID card and gave it to him," Hindarto said.
"After carefully inspecting the card, the officer stood to
attention and gave me a military salute."

Hindarto, whose favorite past time includes riding on his big
bikes, did not identify the officer that had passed the bribery
test.

He also praised the officer for following proper procedures in
stopping traffic violators, including informing the motorist of
the error he had committed.

Traffic police have earned a bad reputation following various
reports in the past that they would let off, for a price,
motorists who violated traffic regulations.

Hindarto, whose term as chief of city police ends soon, has
been campaigning to clean up the image of the police and has
threatened stiff penalties for any officer found accepting
bribes.

Asked whether the traffic officer in the Sunday incident had
let him off without punishment because of his rank, Hindarto's
chief spokesman Lt. Col. Bambang Haryoko quickly hushed the
reporters and said, "the chief was testing the officer."

When another reporter asked whether Hindarto had been
insistence enough in trying to bribe the officer, the police
chief simply chuckled. (bsr)