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epok Police have received the assistance of 50 Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers from Kelapa Dua headquarters to secure the municipality during the fasting month of Ramadhan.

Chief of operations Comr. Suratno said on Friday that the Brimob personnel would be in charge of patrols to prevent security disturbances.

'€œThe qualification for the Brimob squad is higher than for the regular police. We really need reinforcements this year to deal with the increasing crime rate during the fasting month,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

Brimob, a tactical unit of the police, is used primarily as an elite corps for civil emergencies such as riot control. They are also trained for airborne and search-and-rescue operations.

Earlier this week an armed gang stole two cars and cash totaling Rp 9 million (US$900) from a house in Beji district. The house belonged to Rida Fachrudin, head of the primary education division of the Jakarta administration.

Two of the robbers took out firearms and fired six times into the air to deter the house occupants and neighbors from chasing them.

On Friday, Hasan, the financial manager of Qoryatussalam housing complex management reported to the police that a gang robbed him while in Grand Depok City compound and fled with tens of millions of rupiah in cash he was transporting in his Suzuki APV minivan.

The group, he said, burst his tire before the hold-up at around 11 a.m.

Suratno said that the number of police personnel in Depok was insufficient compared to the size of their area of operation and the number of residents.

Currently, the police have 1,600 personnel to provide protection for over 1.7 million residents. The United Nations has set the ideal policing ratio as one officer for every 400 residents.

In a bid to tighten up security in Jakarta during the fasting month and Idul Fitri holidays, the city police have arrested 12 men who were allegedly extorting money from truck drivers along Jl. Cilincing heading to Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta.

The police'€™s mobile detective chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Adex Yudiswan said on Friday that the suspects were arrested on Thursday evening in a police operation in the area.

'€œThe suspects usually extorted money from truck drivers along the road from 1 a.m. to 4 p.m., when congestion occurred,'€ he said.

'€œThe suspects could extort between Rp 30,000 and Rp 100,000 from each driver.'€

He added that the police would investigate the suspects'€™ activities to determine their charges. (ian)