Four crime-prone areas to be targeted<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Among a number of major areas of concern which
\nhave emerged in the last six months, there are at least four
\nareas of criminality to which the police have yet to give proper
\nattention.<\/p>\n
The first is order and security on trains, particularly those
\nin the Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi areas.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of people, particularly those in the
\nlower income brackets, commute by train on a daily basis and are
\ndriven to making constant complaints not only about the poor
\nservice but, more importantly, about poor security.
\nUnfortunately, the security problems have been prevalent for too
\nlong now and have, seemingly, come to be considered as normal.<\/p>\n
The second area of concern is order and security on city buses
\nand at bus terminals. A Jakarta Police report says that in the
\nfirst six months of this year alone, 105 criminal incidents took
\nplace on city buses and at bus terminals.<\/p>\n
This shows a significant increase of 45 percent over the
\nfigure recorded for the same period in 1999. Again, the police
\nhave not done much to deal with these cases.<\/p>\n
The third problematic area is security at sea. Illegal fishing
\nby foreign trawlers, oil smuggling which has disrupted oil
\ndistribution at home and the seizing of a number of vessels
\ncarrying artifacts illegally retrieved from shipwrecks are just a
\nfew examples of how security at sea is yet to receive proper
\nattention from the police.<\/p>\n
It is true that the navy is also responsible for keeping watch
\nover maritime security, but this does not mean that the police
\nshould simply leave matters to the navy.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, naval vessels have often been found to back up
\nsmuggling, one of the reasons why the police find it difficult to
\nthoroughly deal with such cases and therefore seem to turn a
\nblind eye to the matter.<\/p>\n
The fourth area concerns the protection of forests. Illegal
\nfelling by locals and outsiders is taking place almost every day
\nin the many forests of Sumatra, Kalimantan and even Java. This is
\na very difficult problem to solve and it has inflicted great
\nlosses on the state.<\/p>\n
The police should no longer entrust forest rangers to take
\ncare of forests as the rangers have a rather poor record of
\nachievement. Illegal felling by non-locals is by no means a new
\nproblem but only recently have the public and the police shown an
\ninterest in it. In this regard, it is only proper to raise
\nquestions about the integrity and public accountability of forest
\nrangers.<\/p>\n
Activists at Polwatch believe that apart from the government,
\nthe community has the largest potential, resources and
\nresponsibility to help the police overcome their constraints.<\/p>\n
The police have often involved the community in the
\nmaintenance of order and security: nightwatch in villages,
\ncitizens' band radio activities to overcome traffic congestion
\nduring the Muslim Lebaran post-fasting festivities, and the
\nestablishment of task force units to provide security during
\ngeneral elections are a few examples of that involvement.<\/p>\n
Often, however, such participation only helps to resolve
\nproblems partially. How do we ensure effective and efficient
\ncommunity participation in maintaining order and security?<\/p>\n
The police need a wider-range of support, particularly to
\novercome order and security disturbances which have assumed a
\ngreater level of complexity and multidimensionality. A new format
\nof involvement must be sought, one which is oriented more towards
\nthe solution of problems in a holistic and directed manner.<\/p>\n
The police must first be open. They should provide the
\ncommunity with access to increased and more varied information
\nabout how cases are handled, as long as this conforms with the
\nprevailing laws and does not disrupt the law enforcement process.<\/p>\n
University students undertaking their working stints, for
\nexample, could be involved in the conducting of investigations.
\nThis involvement would reduce the work load of the police and at
\nthe same time allow the community to learn about and indirectly
\nmonitor how an investigation process is proceeding. When later
\nsome of them join the police, they will no longer feel awkward
\nand confused.<\/p>\n
Community participation in such activities is not new. In
\nArgentina and Chile, for example, the community and the police
\nhave a common agenda in undertaking joint patrols. In Hongkong,
\nthrough the Independent Police Complaints' Committee (IPCC), the
\ncommunity plays a role in determining whether institutional
\ncooperation between the community and the police should be
\ncontinued or otherwise.<\/p>\n
Polwatch believes there are five prerequisites for sustainable
\nand effective cooperation between the police and the community.
\nThese are as follows: 1) bottom-up planning; 2) a multi-level
\napproach; 3) equality in membership; 4) a self-supporting basis;
\nand 5) supremacy of the law and law enforcement.<\/p>\n
The fulfillment of these five prerequisites will ensure that
\nthe cooperation program being fostered will achieve its targets,
\nnamely order and security and the restoration of public
\nconfidence in the law and the law enforcement institutions,
\nparticularly the National Police. (Adnan Pandupraja)<\/p>",
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