With fresh police officers hitting the beat just seven months after graduating from high school, it's no wonder some behave childishly, according to the force's top brass.

Deputy National Police Chief Comr. Gen. Nanan Sukarna said the limited time available for training partly explains a brawl between two police units on Thursday.

The three-star police general said his institution was not trying to deny responsibility for its members' conduct, but complained that the current training system entails too brief a training period.

"We only have seven months to turn young people without any experience into officers that deal with the public and handle real crimes. We must provide them with the necessary skills and knowledge while changing their mentality and character into that of law enforcers," Nanan told a news briefing on Friday.

Fifty officers from the specialist Mobile Brigade (Brimob) were found to have visited a Central Java police station looking for a fight.

"They have been confronted and are conscious that they made a mistake," Nanan said on Thursday. "That is the important thing." Nana confirmed three people had been injured in the brawl.

It is understood the incident, which unfolded at the Sabhara police station in the early hours of Thursday, came after an officer from the Sabhara unit, which conducts patrols and provides security details, allegedly sent an insulting text message to a colleague in Brimob.

Nanan did not elaborate but said those involved in the brawl were recent recruits. "They are recently graduated," he said, declining to comment on whether any sanctions would be handed down to those involved.

"From their headquarters in Srondol, they came to ask about the text message," Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Dwi Priyatno said.

Around 50 Brimob members, who were not in uniform, arrived on motorcycles looking for a particular Sabhara member. A fight ensued, after which the Brimob members left the scene.

This is the latest reported altercation among the police, with other incidents involving conflict between police and the military.

Every year the police hold an open recruitment for senior high school graduates from across the country to become cadets in its training school in Sukabumi, West Java.

After seven months of training in policing technique, firearms and combat skills, students graduate with the rank of second brigadier, and are posted at police stations across the country.

Nanan said that the incident highlighted the need to revise the training system. "We want to have 11 months of training. However, we don't have the budget. So, we have to live with that," he said.