Polri has prepared 6,826 personnel, while the Udayana IX Regional Military Command (Kodam IX Udayana) has readied six thousand personnel to secure the event. However, the Polri Headquarters instructed the Bali regional police to further increase the strength of police personnel by 20 percent.
Hence, the number of officers on alert was changed to 8,191 personnel, or an additional 20 percent, or 1,365 police officers on standby for the event.
However, the Bali police noted that the additional number may serve as reserve troops. Of the thousands of police officers, who will be securing the series of the G20 summit in Bali, the troops are a combination of the Bali Police and Polri Headquarters under operational control (BKO). BKO comprises mobile brigade (Brimob) officers sent to other regions to secure special events, disasters, or conflicts.
Meanwhile, the Regional Military Commander of Kodam IX Udayana Major General Sonny Aprianto, as commander of the Bali Regional Security Task Force for the G20, plans to deploy six thousand soldiers to assist the police in securing activities of the G20 Summit in Bali. The troops will later be deployed as the regional security task force.
Moreover, his side will deploy another two thousand soldiers to anticipate natural disasters. Thousands of members of the Disaster Evacuation Task Force will take precautionary measures against natural disasters that might occur during the G20 Summit and also formed an Evacuation Task Force.
The existence of the Disaster Evacuation Task Force, which is led directly by the deputy chief of regional military command (Kasdam) IX Udayana, is a preparation step for Kodam IX Udayana considering that Bali has 11 potential disaster threats, including volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.
Entrance
Thousands of police personnel in Bali will strictly guard several points as entrances to the island in order to anticipate potential security threats during the series of G20 activities. Police personnel will monitor the situation and check visitors as a preventive measure.
The entrances comprise Gilimanuk, Padangbai, Benoa, and Celukan Bawang and also at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. Police officers will implement closed and open policies while conducting surveillance operations, routine checks, and observations.
In addition, the Bali Police also anticipated the potential threat of terror through coordination with the Special Anti-Terror Detachment (Densus) 88 of the National Police Headquarters. Attention to the potential for acts of terrorism is an integral part of security operations of the G20 activities in Bali.
For issues pertaining to contingency and high-intensity crimes, the Polri Headquarters and Densus 88 will keep on its radar certain people that should be watched out for.
The issue of terrorism in Bali became a cause for concern after the Densus 88 team searched the house of a suspected terrorist of the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) network in Denpasar, Bali, September 6, 2022. Densus 88 searched the house of a suspected terrorist, with the initials as FI, after the owner of the house was arrested in Lumajang, East Java.
In connection with this situation, the Bali Police has given serious attention to all potential threats. The police also installed surveillance cameras (CCTV) equipped with facial recognition feature and license plate recognition.
However, Head of Bali Regional Police, Putu Jayan, also sought community support to actively monitor the situation around their neighborhood.
Support from the community, regardless of how small the information, can be notified to the police as an effort to maintain Bali’s situation for the G20 Summit.
Electric vehicle
In addition to security operations, the police from the Traffic Corps (Korlantas) of the Bali Regional Police also prepared 264 personnel trained to adapt to electric vehicles, such as cars and motorcycles, as operational vehicles to escort VVIP guests for the G20 Summit.
The training was deemed necessary on account of significant differences between electric and conventional vehicles. This especially pertains to the safety aspect for state guests. The electric vehicle tends to have a silent operation, with the indicator shown on the dashboard.
Another feature of electric vehicles that needs adjustment is the regenerative function. Electric vehicles do not have engine brakes or deceleration of vehicle speed when the gear is reduced.
In electric vehicles, the absence of an engine brake is replaced with a regenerative function, which is divided into three levels from one to three. Level one is smooth (slow), and stronger power on level two and three.
Despite having mastered all technicalities in the field, the 264 personnel will coordinate with presidential security guard for each country.
On the commemoration of the 67th Bhayangkara Traffic Day, the National Police prepared 176 electric vehicles comprising 88 electric cars and 88 electric motorcycles for the G20 Summit to accelerate the use of battery-based electric motorized vehicles.
Towards the peak of the G20 Summit, horse-riding police patrols (Turangga) often pass through the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) area since it is included as one of the areas used for the G20 Summit. The Directorate of Water and Air Police (Ditpolairud) of the Bali Police will conduct sea patrols to ensure the safety of the Bali waters during the G20 Summit activities.
Assistant for Operations (Asops) for the National Police Chief, Inspector General Agung Setya Imam Effendi, said that the Bali Police will continue to conduct regular patrols, especially in places selected as the focus of the G20 meeting.
The National Police determined five priority security areas -- Seminyak, Jimbaran, North Nusa Dua, South Nusa Dua, and Sanur -- during the G20 Summit. The troops will serve for 10 days, on November 7-17, 2022, with all of them ensuring strict security from the entrances to the meeting location of the G20 members’ heads of state.
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Translator: Edy M Yakub, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
