I

ndonesia Police Watch (IPW) has urged the National Police (Polri) encourage police personnel to control their use of firearms while on assignment or off duty, to prevent accidental shootings.

On Monday, the IPW released its latest data, showing that in 2015 there were 20 accidental shootings involving police personnel, killing at least seven civilians and injuring 17 others.

'€œThe number of [firearm misuse] cases has increased, even though the number of victims was lower compared to last year,'€ IPW Coordinator Neta S. Pane said.

The IPW had reported in 2014 that there were 13 cases of firearm misuse by police, resulting in the deaths of seven people and injuring 20 others.

Victims range from children, housewives, motorbike drivers, police colleagues and spouses. The IPW blamed the deaths on trigger-happy personnel who arrogantly fire shots at civilians.

'€œThis year we also learned that three police personnel were involved in shoot outs and two women were killed by guns owned by their cop husbands,'€ Neta said.

The IPW reports also showed that, in addition to accidental shootings, during 2015 police personnel had been wasting bullets during raids.

According to Neta, one of the raids was in Palembang, South Sumatera, where police personnel fired shots randomly in spite of warnings from locals that the raid was being conducted in a densely populated area.

'€œIn this incident, three children, who had been playing, were injured by bullets and the police managed to walk away without accountability,'€ Neta said.

The IPW urged the National Police Chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti to instruct police personnel to control their use of firearms.

'€œIf they conduct a raid in a densely populated area, they should be more careful,'€ Neta said.

The IPW also recommended that the police replace old weapons with new ones.

'€œMany personnel still use old weapons, so they often miss their target. They might aim for the legs but it could miss and hit the head instead,'€ Neta said.

The National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Agus Riyanto told The Jakarta Post that the police had made more than one effort to reduce the rate of accidental shootings.

He said that personnel underwent strict tests before being allowed to carry weapon including a psychological test.

Police personnel are also required to record all activities involving their weapons.

'€œAfter their licence expires, they are required to pass another psychological test to get a new one,'€ he said.