Criminals arrested, killed, but public still insecure<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police officials revealed on Monday that they had shot dead
\neight suspects and arrested 359 others believed to be involved in
\n271 street robberies in the past two months here, but despite
\nsuch claims most people still feel unsafe.<\/p>\n
Adj. Sr. Comr. Tito Karnavian of the City Police Detective
\nsection admitted that street crime in the capital was still
\nprevalent.<\/p>\n
\"Even though we have been aggressively clamping down on street
\ncrime, it is still rampant throughout the city,\" Tito told a
\nmedia conference.<\/p>\n
In the past two months, the police had conducted an operation
\nagainst street crime, such as robbery, larceny and auto theft.<\/p>\n
Tito revealed that within the first two months of 2002, the
\npolice found that some criminals had shifted their targeted areas
\nto other places in a move to evade police pressure.<\/p>\n
\"As we tightened our pressure in crime-prone areas such as
\nGrogol and Tomang intersections, in West Jakarta, for instance,
\nthe perpetrators shifted their operation to Jl. Latumenten,\" Tito
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
Andrianto, an employee with a private company in West Jakarta,
\nquestioned the effectiveness of the operation against the crime.<\/p>\n
\"I often see many suspicious people who take the same bus as I
\ndo -- the 6A bus which serves the Kampung Rambutan-Grogol route,\"
\nsaid the young man, who recently had his mobile phone stolen on
\nhis way to work.<\/p>\n
He said he would be extra cautious with them due to fears that
\nthey were thieves.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Catherine Gazali, a bank employee was still shocked
\nand traumatized after being robbed twice, once inside a bus, once
\non the pedestrian bridge in Grogol, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Last week, my boyfriend and I rushed to get off the bus when
\nwe saw a group of men, who we are quite sure are criminals, as
\nthey boarded the bus,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Due to the incidents, Catherine preferred to commute by the
\nfar more expensive taxis rather than public buses.<\/p>\n
Tito, who would soon be transferred from his post to another
\npost in South Sulawesi, said the police found it difficult to
\neradicate crime due to the unorganized and sporadic nature of it.<\/p>\n
He attributed the soaring crime rate to the country's economy
\nwhich partly contributed to the massive layoffs of workers, which
\nin turn forced them to a life of crime.<\/p>\n
He said most of the criminals were unorganized and worked
\nindividually, which he confirmed by the weapons confiscated which
\ncomprised 41 traditional weapons including machetes, daggers,
\naxes, swords and one gun.<\/p>\n
But, according to the report from the police information
\ncenter, the number of criminals using guns was on the increase.
\nFor instance on Feb. 8 alone, six robberies were reported, three
\nof them were armed robberies. In February, there were 103
\nreported robberies in the capital.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/criminals-arrested-killed-but-public-still-insecure-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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