5,000 police to safeguard Imlek celebrations

Jakarta Police will deploy 5,000 officers to safeguard Chinese New Year celebrations on Thursday, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

Sr. Com. Baharudin Djafar said the officers would be posted to 137 locations across Jakarta, including Chinese temples, shopping centers and other public places, tempointeraktif.com reported.

Most of the police would be sent to West Jakarta (46 locations), Tangerang regency (26 locations), South Jakarta (10 locations). Tangerang city (nine locations), Central Jakarta (six locations) and Depok (four locations). Others would be stationed in North and East Jakarta and Bekasi.

Baharudin said the police in each municipality or regency would decide their own mechanisms to safeguard their areas.

“They are the ones who know what should be prioritized,” he said.

Baharudin added that police would also provide security at the peak of the Chinese New Year celebrations in Jakarta, known locally as Imlek, which will take place on February 14. The President and several other high–ranking officials are expected to attend, he said.