Bayu Marhaenjati – won't disarm, but have promised to reevaluate the psychological condition of officers carrying firearms in the wake of a fatal shooting allegedly by a Mobile Brigade officer earlier in the week.

"Surely with this incident, everyone in the force who carries guns, not only the Brimob corps, will be reviewed," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said at police headquarters on Thursday.

Rikwanto went on to answer questions about who exactly will be evaluated, and on what schedule. "People will be reviewed based on the observations of their respective superiors," he said.

"They will continue to carry a gun if based on an observation and evaluation process their mental condition allows it, while their gun authorization will be revoked if they aren't fit."

Rikwanto said psychological tests were already conducted regularly on all members who hold guns, including unit heads.

"The psychological tests are conducted regularly for those who want to use weapons in their duties and for those who are being evaluated for it. It's held regularly, once a year," he said.

He said that detectives were among those officers allowed to carry a gun, saying their job was not only to type reports from behind their desk, but also to occasionally take part in the capture of criminals.

Rikwanto said that the number of Jakarta police officers carrying guns reached into the thousands. Brimob officers, one of whom is accused of Tuesday's murder, are often armed with automatic rifles and have a history of using them on protestors when called in to quell demonstrations.

Shooting

On Tuesday night a Brimob officer, identified as "First Brig. W.," reportedly approached Bachrudin, a security guard at a shophouse in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

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, police said, the Brimob officer shot him in the chest.

"The victim thought that he did not do anything wrong and he refused," Rikwanto said. "The perpetrator shot him. 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's Kelapa Dua headquarters in Depok, West Java. He was handed over to the West Jakarta Police for questioning, Rikwanto said. "He is still being questioned," he said.

The Brimob officer reportedly treated private 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 daily 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 were forced 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 policeman should have managed to control 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, whose background as a journalist at sensationalist tabloid daily Pos Kota has given him plenty of experience reporting on police cases, urged the West Jakarta Police to lay charges against the officer. "The perpetrator must be tried in a criminal court because he has killed someone," he said.

Institutional rivalries

Previously, Edi had called for a regulation that would require police and military officers to remove any attributes of office when entering nightclubs.

He said that a brawl between members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police at a Depok karaoke bar – which left two Brimob officers injured and a soldier hospitalized with severe head wounds – was embarrassing.

Edi said the incident had marred the reputations of both institutions. "This is the result of discipline for members not being enforced maximally. These actions have been condoned," Edi said.

The nightclub brawl reportedly started when Second Brig. Sugandi, of the Kelapa Dua Brimob station, and another police officer were reportedly attacked by four members of the TNI in the bar area of Venus Karaoke in Depok Town Square last month. Four other Brimob members then entered the fray, according to the Jakarta Police.

Sugandi was stabbed in the stomach during the fight. Another police officer, Second. Brig. William, was slashed on his left hand. Both were admitted to nearby hospitals.

Second Sgt. Cholil, of an Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) unit in Ciluar, Bogor, suffered serious head wounds and was admitted to Gatot Subroto Military Hospital in Central Jakarta for treatment.

Lawmaker Abubakar Al Habsyi, a member of House Commission III, which oversees legal matters, also called on the National Police and TNI to carry out a serious evaluation of the situation. "Let's prevent things like this from happening over and over again," he said.

Abubakar said every unit should enhance security to prevent their members from coming and going from their stations on personal errands.

He said the measures were needed to prevent cases such as the revenge killings of four suspects by special forces (Kopassus) soldiers at Cebongan Prison in Yogyakarta.