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Police under fire after viral Transjakarta video

The Jakarta Police have come under fire after a social media video went viral, showing a traffic police officer reprimanding a Transjakarta driver to the chagrin of passengers who voiced their opinion loudly that the measure was unjust

Dewanti A. Wardhani and Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, March 27, 2015

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Police under fire after viral Transjakarta video

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he Jakarta Police have come under fire after a social media video went viral, showing a traffic police officer reprimanding a Transjakarta driver to the chagrin of passengers who voiced their opinion loudly that the measure was unjust.

Netizens criticized the police to the extend that on Thursday, two days after the incident, the Jakarta Police issued a public apology on behalf of the police officer in the video.

In the one-minute video, uploaded by Facebook user Krisnandiar Zainal, a group of angry Transjakarta passengers yelled at a man, a motorcyclist wearing no helmet who was driving in the dedicated Transjakarta lane.

The passengers defended the Transjakarta bus driver and yelled, '€œOfficer, that motorcyclist is at fault! Let'€™s go to the police station!'€

The motorcyclist boarded the bus and attempted to defend himself in a confident and authoritative manner, '€œCalm down, ladies and gentlemen, I'€™m sorry, but I am riding a two-wheeled vehicle, while this is a four-wheeled vehicle.'€ The passengers yelled even louder at the man, who then stated, '€œI could be dead.'€

Instead of ticketing the motorcyclist, a uniformed police officer who was a passenger on the bus yelled at the Transjakarta passengers and driver, who allegedly almost crashed into the motorcycle. At one point, the police officer became angry and yelled, '€œEveryone get off the bus! I am authorized and have every right!'€

Jakarta Traffic Police chief Sr. Comr. Risyapudin Nursin said earlier in the day that the police were trying to verify the motorcyclist'€™s claim that he was an officer with the South Jakarta Police.

Later in the day, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said the video showed only a fraction of what really happened and that the motorcyclist was not a police officer. The police, however, could not identity the confident and authoritative motorcyclist, who disappeared during the fray.

Martinus identified the traffic police officer as Brig. M and the Jakarta Police apologized for Brig. M'€™s '€œless commendable behavior'€. He said the police were thankful that the video had been uploaded so they could take immediate action and impose punishment if the officer was proven to have committed a violation.

However, Martinus asked the public to deliver '€œconstructive criticism'€ to the police instead of cursing. '€œI noticed inappropriate language used to condemn us. We are a nation that is known for our good manners and we should not behave like that,'€ he continued.

Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said he had reported the incident to Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Unggung Cahyono. '€œHe has reprimanded the officer,'€ Ahok said at City Hall.

He said the prevailing Traffic Law did not favor Transjakarta and yet the dedicated Transjakarta lane should be treated like the railway.

'€œIf a train crashes into a passerby, the train driver does not get sued. This should also be applied to Transjakarta because currently if a Transjakarta bus driver hits a pedestrian, the driver is blamed,'€ Ahok said.

This is the second time the Jakarta Traffic Police have come under fire as a result of a social media video. Last month, a two-minute video uploaded on YouTube by user Ray Hendriks showed a Kopaja minibus conductor appearing to place cash '€” allegedly a bribe '€” in a police post at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle before making an illegal U-turn. Five officers were demoted after the video went viral.

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