Two police dismissed, 28 others reprimanded

JAKARTA (JP): Two city police officers have been dismissed and 28 others strongly reprimanded over the past three months for breaching police regulations, an official said on Saturday.

The head of the police internal affairs unit, Col. Djamaludin Harahap, told reporters that the officers were dismissed after they were found guilty of abusing their power and committing "intolerable" wrongdoings.

Investigations on the delinquent officers were mostly made based on anonymous reports from the public posted to the police complaints PO Box 5000 and 7777.

"The punishment shows that we're responding to public reports positively," he said.

"Reprimands given to the errant officers ranged from postponed promotion for an indefinite period to transferring them to other positions," Harahap said, after officially ending the 1998/1999 school year for non-commissioned officers at the police school in Lido, West Java. However, Harahap did not give details of the names, positions or transgressions of the officers.

Harahap urged the public to continue sending detailed information to the police if they witnessed inappropriate behavior or knew of any officers involved in wrongdoings.

Harahap admitted that some of the reports were not supported by clear information, possibly because those making the reports did not want to be identified.

It was difficult for internal affairs officers to investigate incomplete reports, Harahap said, explaining that some people believed to have knowledge of police transgressions refused to testify.

He said all public complaints were completely confidential and only certain officers were authorized to read them. (emf)