Tripartite force to be formed to secure the capital

Tripartite force to be formed to secure the capital

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said on Friday that a
tripartite force, comprising the military, police and city
administration, would be permanently deployed to maintain
security and order in the capital.

Under the new scheme, security affairs in the capital will no
longer be solely under the management of the city police
headquarters as it will also involve the city military command
and city administration.

Sutiyoso said the chief of city military command Maj. Gen.
Slamet Kirbiantoro and city police Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman
had agreed on the implementation of the new system.

"First, we'll establish a joint team to formulate the system.
The team will be chaired by the deputy governor, and assisted by
the deputy chief of the city police and the city military
command's chief of staff.

"The details of the new system will be completed on Nov. 25,
and it will be implemented on Nov. 27, the beginning of this
year's Ramadhan," said Sutiyoso, a retired three-star general and
also chairman of Muspida (the capital's leadership forum).

The chiefs of the city military command and city police are
members of the forum.

Sutiyoso, however, denied that the tripartite system would be
established to secure Ramadhan, the post-Ramadhan Idul Fitri
celebration and Christmas in late December.

"The security cooperation among the three parties for handling
security matters in the capital will be permanent," he said.

He said the three parties had so far coordinated only during
special national and international events, but the cooperation
was terminated along with the completion of the events.

"With the new system, security cooperation will be maintained
on normal days," Sutiyoso told reporters after a coordination
meeting with Kirbiantoro and Mulyono at city military command
headquarters in East Jakarta.

On a separate occasion, Sutiyoso said the team might form a
joint task force, which included members of the three parties.

"It's possible to arm the task force members, especially if
they are dealing with violent rallies. However, the members will
always act according to standard operating procedures," he said
at City Hall.

Sutiyoso dismissed speculation that certain security threats
were behind the establishment of the new system.

"Security is what everyone wants as it affects our economy.
Therefore, it should be given special attention," he said.

The governor said the new system was needed as the police
alone were not able to secure the capital.

"The quality of the police and the number of officers are
limited," he said, adding that the current police ratio was one
officer for every 1,200 citizens.

The ideal ratio should be one officer for every 200 people, he
said.

He said besides militarymen and police personnel, Hansip
(civilian guards) and city public order officials -- who are
under the supervision of the city administration -- were expected
to be members of the joint task force.

The governor said the police were happy with the new system,
and would not feel disturbed that their authority will be reduced
with the presence of military personnel.

"There should be no problems with the police, since they need
help and have expected it to secure the capital due to their
limited personnel," he said.

"There won't be any wars with other countries in the near
future, so it's okay if military personnel assist security
matters here. Moreover, security threats often come from parties
at home," he said without elaborating further.

To finance the operation of the new system, the administration
will raise funds from the city administration and draw from the
central government budget, the governor said.

Police solely took control over security issues from the
military after its formal separation with the military last year.
(asa/dja)