JAKARTA - The East Jakarta Metro Police said churches with large congregations were the main priority for security ahead of the 2025 Christmas celebration.
"We prioritize sterilization in churches in East Jakarta which indeed have many congregations," said Head of Operations of the East Jakarta Metro Police, AKBP Eko Rahmat Mulyadi at the Santa Anna Church, Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, Wednesday, December 24, 2025.
This step is carried out through thorough sterilization by the Gegana team of the Metro Jaya Police Mobile Brigade Unit to ensure that all the worship series run safely.
Eko explained that the church, which accommodates more than 2,000 parishioners, was included in the priority security category.
"So, in order to secure the service of the Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations, we take preventive measures by sterilizing churches with a congregation of more than 2,000 people," he said.
Until now, at least three large churches have been sterilized, namely the Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Jatinegara, the HKBP Church and the Holy Family Church in Rawamangun, and the Church of St. Anna in Duren Sawit.
Sterilization is carried out by screening the church area using special equipment. The inspection includes the altar area, congregation benches, church yard, to supporting facilities used during worship.
According to Eko, this priority was given because of the high mobility of the congregation at Christmas momentum which has the potential to cause vulnerability. With layered security, he hopes that the potential for disruption can be minimized early on.
"We want to ensure that the entire Christmas worship process runs smoothly and safely, especially in churches with large congregations," said Eko.
In addition to sterilization, police personnel were also alerted to help manage the flow of worshipers and vehicles around the church.
The coordination also involved church administrators and internal security elements to ensure the orderly flow of worship and facilitate monitoring of the situation.
With this priority-based approach, the East Jakarta Metro Police hopes that Christmas security will run effectively and give a sense of calm to the congregation who worship.
The bomb disposal team (Jibom) from the Gegana Brimob of the Metro Jaya Police was deployed to carry out sterilization at a number of churches in the East Jakarta area ahead of the Christmas Mass and Christmas Day 2025 celebrations.
The Gegana team together with the East Jakarta Metro Police carried out a search on Wednesday afternoon at a number of churches, one of which was in the Duren Sawit area, East Jakarta.
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