"We Have No Choice But to Do It" as Satpol PP Workload Deemed Excessive

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Head of the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) of DKI Jakarta, Satriadi Gunawan, has spotlighted the excessive workload of his personnel in the field, which has been so burdensome that it has caused several members to die on duty.

In response to this, Dede Wahyudi, an officer from the Satpol PP of Srengseng Sub-District, Kembangan, West Jakarta, confirmed the matter.

He revealed that the daily routine of Satpol PP officers is filled with supervision, patrols, and handling sudden tasks.

Dede explained that in their daily operations, Satpol PP personnel are divided into three shifts: morning, afternoon, and 24-hour on-call duty.

However, rest time is often sacrificed when emergencies occur in the area, such as fires, floods, or other incidents requiring security measures.

He also dismissed the perception held by some members of the public that Satpol PP officers merely loiter while on duty.

“If there are (people who say) Satpol PP’s job is just hanging around, they are wrong, they are mistaken. Like us here, our work is really 24 hours. Sometimes when we’re resting at midnight, even when it’s time to sleep, suddenly there’s a fire, a murder, or a tree falls due to heavy rain, a flood, then we work, we go out to the area,” said Dede.

“We strive as hard as we can to do our job every day for the sake of the community,” he emphasised.

Regarding the physical demands required for hours in the field, Dede admitted that fatigue is an unavoidable issue for all personnel.

Nevertheless, he tries to maintain stamina by managing rest time, eating on schedule, and handling stress.

Despite this, Dede appreciated his leadership’s steps to attend to the welfare of their subordinates, for example, by providing rest facilities in the form of bunk beds at the headquarters.

However, he also highlighted the need for additional personnel or workforce at the sub-district level, which is currently felt to be very insufficient to cover the vast supervision area.

A similar statement was expressed by Ronatal Purba, who is also a Satpol PP officer from Srengseng Sub-District.