Mass Organizations Can Join Election Patrols with Condition

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta Police planned to beef up regular operations, such as mobile patrols, ahead of the 2019 general elections slated to take place on Wednesday, April 17.

Joint patrols of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and the National Police (Polri) will also be intensified, said Jakarta Police spokesman said Commissioner Argo Yuwono.

The police, Argo continued, allowed mass organizations willing to join the operations. "This means we, officers and the community, can together secure the Jakarta area," said Argo in his office on Monday, April 1.

Mass organizations willing to take part in patrolling are required to submit a proposal in advance, Argo added. The police will then decide whether they are approved to participate in the patrols.

Additionally, the police formed a special anti-thug task force team dubbed Tekap (Tim Khusus Anti Preman) to comb the capital in order to combat street crimes. 

Read: Wiranto: 593,000 Personnel Deployed to Secure 2019 Election

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo said Jakarta and its outskirts were listed on the top ten regions with the highest election vulnerability index since the open campaign period commenced on March 24.

The regions included South Tangerang, North Jakarta, West Jakarta, and East Jakarta. The other areas are Pigi Raya, Banggai, Donggala, Mentawai, Tanah Datar regency, and Yogyakarta.

Dedi, however, said changes in the composition of the list were possible ahead of the 2019 general elections. The sure thing was, he added, the list and the indicators were made to determine deployment areas and the number of personnel that each provincial police headquarters required.

“I will update this after the end of the open campaign period,” he said.

ADAM PRIREZA | ANDITA RAHMA