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)