Brimob Member Guns Down Security Guard Over ‘Lack of Respect’

The Jakarta Globe, November 6, 2013.


A National Police officer allegedly shot a man in the chest, killing him over a perceived “lack of respect,” after the security guard protested the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officer’s repeated requests for money or free alcohol.

The officer, identified as “First Brig. W.,” reportedly approached Bachrudin at a shop in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, at 6:30 Tuesday night. The officer, annoyed at what he deemed a lack of respect by the private security officer, demanded the man drop to the ground and do push-ups, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Cmr. Rikwanto said.

When Bachrudin refused to comply, the Brimob member allegedly shot him once in the chest.

“The victim thought that he did not do anything wrong and he refused,” Rikwanto said. “The perpetrator shot him… [and] the victim suffered a gunshot wound on the left side of his chest that caused his death.”

The police officer turned himself in at the Brimob headquarters in Kelapa Dua, Depok, West Java. He was handed over to the West Jakarta Police for questioning, Rikwanto said.

“He is still being questioned in the West Jakarta Police,” he said.

The Brimob officer reportedly treated security guards in West Jakarta like his subordinates, often visiting the store in Cengkareng drunk and demanding money or a show of respect, according to reports in the Indonesian newspaper Kompas. He would order the security guards to hand over cash or alcohol, said Lorent, a friend of the deceased.

“He felt like he was a big guy around here,” Lorent told Kompas. “Security guards would have to salute him as he passed. If they didn’t he would get really angry.”

The National Police’s supervisory commission (Kompolnas) expressed concern over the incident, stating that it was an example of the arrogance displayed by some police officers.

“The police should have managed to hold himself and hold his emotions,” Edi Saputra Hasibuan, of Kompolnas, said. “Don’t think that just because you are a police officer you can do that.”

Edi urged the West Jakarta Police to charge the officer as a civilian.

“The perpetrator must be tried in a civil court because he has killed someone,” he said.



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