Police to deploy 92,000 personnel for Xmas

JAKARTA. The National Police are preparing to deploy 92,009 personnel to secure the Christmas and New Year’s Eve festivities, most of whom will be concentrated at 39,789 churches across the country.

“We will also set up security posts at bus stations, train stations and terminals, with a total of 1,900 security posts,” National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said at National Police headquarters in South Jakarta on Wednesday.

Sutarman made the statement after leading a coordination meeting on security measures on the holiday season, with officials from the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) and the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

Sutarman said the deployment would be made during the security operation code-named Operasi Lilin (Candle Operation) running from Dec. 2 until Jan. 1.

Aside from police officers, the operation will be supported by 52,455 personnel from the TNI, related ministries and institutions and members of the public.