Outside his job as a police officer, Heru loves to sing and play the saxophone. He has often performed on stage. His favorite song is rock band Slank’s “Ku Tak Bisa” (I Just Can’t).
By
ANGGER PUTRANTO
·3 minutes read
Kompas/Wisnu Widiantoro
Insp. Gen. Heru Winarko recites his oath of office during his inauguration as the National Narcotics Agency head on Thursday (1/3) at the State Palace in Jakarta.
The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has a new leader: Insp. Gen. Heru Winarko, who previously served as law enforcement deputy at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). He has also served as the Lampung Police chief (2002) and the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister’s expert staff on ideology and constitution (2015).
The two-starred police officer was born in Jakarta on Dec. 1, 1962. He graduated from the Police Academy in 1985. Before President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inaugurated Heru as the new BNN head on Thursday (1/3) at the State Palace, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian was said to have proposed three candidates as the new BNN chief. In addition to Heru, the two others were National Police Security Maintenance Agency (Baharkam) head Comr. Gen. Moechgiyarto and National Police Criminal Investigation (Bareskrim) head Comr. Gen. Ari Dono Soekmanto.
The President eventually decided on Heru. When Kompas was trying to confirm this the day before the inauguration, Heru gave a noncommittal response. “Is it true? Just see for yourself tomorrow,” he said.
When Kompas pressed further, Heru merely said that he was grateful and he asked for well wishes in his new endeavor. He was known for his excellent performance at the KPK.
While serving as Lampung Police chief, he uncovered several narcotics cases, including a smuggling case involving 688 kilograms of marijuana on a counterfeit military vehicle (Kompas, 20/10/2012) and another involving 13.5 kilograms of methamphetamine smuggled from Nigeria (Kompas, 21/9/2013).
In his last year as Lampung Police chief in 2015, Lampung Police officers shot dead Toni Sapujagat, reputedly a drug lord distributing narcotics in eastern Lampung. Toni had been a fugitive for three years.
Despite his officers’ harsh actions in eradicating drugs, Heru was known to prioritize preventive efforts. He made this clear in several media interviews.
Heru said that, if prevention was possible, the police should not wait for crimes to occur. “Preemptive and preventive measures should always be prioritized,” he once said.
Outside his job as a police officer, Heru loves to sing and play the saxophone. He has often performed on stage. His favorite song is rock band Slank’s “Ku Tak Bisa” (I Just Can’t). He sings from memory.
“Once a Slankers, always a Slankers,” he said, using the moniker for Slank fans. “Whoever I am singing with, I will always sing Slank songs.” Heru proved this when he sang with dangdut singer Zaskia Gotic at an event in 2014 commemorating Lampung province’s anniversary.
His going-away party to mark his transfer from the Lampung Police was his last chance to sing with his colleagues there. He sang with the personnel of the police mobile brigade with in tears in his eyes.
Heru has also served as the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Ministry’s deputy assistant for national security, at the National Police Criminal Investigation (Bareskrim) as deputy director of corruption crimes and deputy director of special and economic crimes, as Bareskrim special and economic crimes investigator and as the Central Jakarta Police chief.
