New crime patterns emerge<\/p>\n
By Emmy Fitri<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Newly developed crime patterns ranging from
\nlooting to robberies targeting taxi drivers and passengers, along
\nwith a rising trend in other street crimes and scams involving
\nU.S. dollars have given Jakarta a reputation as an unsafe place
\nto be.<\/p>\n
Never before did anyone think that looting, which used to be
\nassociated in our minds with poverty-stricken African countries,
\nwould happen in Indonesia, which until last year was still
\nrecording high economic growth rates and was ambitiously
\ntargeting entry to a \"take-off\" era to establish itself as a
\nfully modern country.<\/p>\n
Not only did the looting really happen in the city, its scale
\nwas such that it involved not only the theft of basic commodities
\nlike canned food, but also that of large and sophisticated
\nproducts like motorcycles, refrigerators, air conditioners, and
\ntelevision sets.<\/p>\n
This scene was witnessed during the outbreak of the mid-May
\nriots in which thousands of buildings, mainly shops and shopping
\nmalls, were set ablaze almost in unison. The riots, which
\ninflicted on the city losses of about Rp 2.5 trillion, led to the
\ndownfall of president Soeharto on May 21.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people were involved in the looting spree, making
\noff with whatever they could from shopping centers or warehouses
\nnear their residences as if they wanted to express their anger at
\nyears of being oppressed by the New Order government.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso was very disappointed by the actions of
\nmarauding mobs in looting and vandalizing buildings.<\/p>\n
\"As a governor and people's leader, I am really ashamed that
\nmy people's behavior is like that. Such conduct does not properly
\nreflect our personality,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso said he could understand people pillaging foodstuffs
\non account of hunger during the crisis, but there was no
\njustification for making off with other goods.<\/p>\n
\"But seeing that they also stole other things like television
\nsets and carpets makes me sad and disappointed.\"<\/p>\n
The widespread looting and wanton destruction of properties,
\nmostly those owned by Chinese-Indonesians, was triggered by the
\nstill unexplained shooting deaths of four Trisakti University
\nstudent protesters on May 12.<\/p>\n
Mobs burned dozens of cars and motorcycles, ransacked hundreds
\nof Chinese-owned shops, and damaged a range of buildings
\nincluding banks, hotels, houses and police stations.<\/p>\n
Jakarta, once a safe place in which to stay, turned into a
\nkind of a war zone.<\/p>\n
So chaotic were the conditions that many wealthy Indonesians,
\nmainly those of Chinese descent, left the city or went abroad to
\nseek safety. Many countries, including Japan, the United States
\nand Australia, evacuated their citizens residing in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Our parents in Yogyakarta are worried about our safety and
\nwant us to leave Jakarta,\" Budi Yulianto, 25, a Jakarta resident,
\nsaid at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on May 16.<\/p>\n
The riots caused the deaths of some 1,200 people, most of whom
\nwere trapped in burning buildings.<\/p>\n
The major question arising from the incident was how the
\nburning and looting could occur almost everywhere in the city.
\nWhy were the military and police unable to prevent this from
\nhappening?<\/p>\n
Before this question could be answered, the looting spree
\nspread into other areas, targeting shrimp ponds, export-oriented
\ngarments in containers as well as golf courses and a cattle
\nbreeding ranch owned by the Soeharto family.<\/p>\n
A similar series of events hit the city again in November,
\nalthough this time on a smaller scale, following the fatal
\nshooting of student demonstrators at the Semanggi cloverleaf and
\nAtma Jaya University.<\/p>\n
Police managed to arrest hundreds of suspected looters in the
\ntwo upheavals, but as is usually the case no further development
\nwas heard of regarding the processing of their dossiers.<\/p>\n
Taxi robberies<\/p>\n
The frightening trauma of the widespread bloody rioting was
\nexacerbated when robberies and burglaries that once were largely
\ncommitted at houses, stores or offices apparently spread to
\ntaxis.<\/p>\n
Police discovered that crooks had begun to steal taxis to
\ncommit other, more violent crimes, targeting foreigners and
\nfemale victims in kidnaps for ransom, or simply killing the
\nvictims outright after taking their valuables.<\/p>\n
Previously taxis used to be the safest public transportation
\nmeans as many saw how pickpockets freely operated in public buses
\nor in minivans.<\/p>\n
However, not any more. It is not only taxi passengers who have
\nbecome the victims of the rising tide of crime sweeping the
\ncountry. Drivers too are often sought out by criminals seeking
\nvulnerable targets.<\/p>\n
\"On the one hand, we're afraid that our passengers will turn
\nout to be crooks and rob us of our money, but on the other our
\npassengers are afraid that we are intent on robbing them,\" a taxi
\ndriver said.<\/p>\n
The succession of crimes reported in taxis has reduced
\ndrivers' incomes by up to 30 percent.<\/p>\n
In a big haul made in September, police apprehended a gang of
\nrobbers and kidnappers who had disguised themselves as taxi
\ndrivers and targeted women and foreigners in particular.<\/p>\n
Police shot dead three such crooks and arrested eight others
\nin their rented houses in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Those who were arrested confessed that they had kidnapped and
\nrobbed several foreigners.<\/p>\n
In January a Japanese man was stabbed to death and his
\ncompatriot was wounded when the taxi they were in was robbed in
\nthe Cinangka subdistrict of Sawangan in West Java.<\/p>\n
The Japanese was the first foreigner to die as the result of
\ncriminal offenses this year. At least three foreigners died
\nviolently this year, according to existing data.<\/p>\n
The two other foreigners were robbed on their way home after
\nvisiting a karaoke pub in Blok M, South Jakarta and in this
\nincident the robbers made off with Rp 3 million in the form of
\ncash and a gold ring, abandoning the two in Cinangka subdistrict
\nin West Java.<\/p>\n
In early March in a similar exercise two visitors from West
\nAfrica were also robbed by a taxi driver and his accomplice on
\ntheir way back to a hotel in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The victims, identified as Akang BT, 41, and Aminau AC, 44,
\nwere robbed when they were heading to Hotel Alamanda in
\nPetamburan after visiting Plaza Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The modus operandi in the taxi robberies appears classical
\nwith suspects pretending to be potential passengers.<\/p>\n
In the middle of the journey the thieves pulled out their
\nweapons and forced the drivers to give up their money or the
\nsteering wheel.<\/p>\n
Or using a different ploy, taxi drivers targeting women or
\nforeigners as their passengers picked up their accomplices in
\nmid-journey and carried out the crime ahead of the passengers'
\ndestinations.<\/p>\n
It was a lucky break if suspects only wounded the victims and
\nabandoned them short of their destinations. In several cases,
\nsuspects without any hesitation killed the victims if they showed
\nany resistance.<\/p>\n
In October drivers from \"clean\" and reputable taxi firms Kosti
\nand Cendrawasih were murdered as they defended themselves from
\nteenagers who tried to extort money from them and steal their
\ntaxis.<\/p>\n
Street crimes<\/p>\n
Showing no fear of being spotted, criminals, either working in
\ngroups or alone, also took intersections and toll roads as their
\ntheaters of operation either in broad daylight or before dawn.<\/p>\n
They pretended to be passerby and street vendors. Otherwise
\nthey just stopped cars or waited at traffic lights. Petty
\nrobberies at intersections or extortion of money are both old and
\nclassical crimes, but due to gripping economic difficulties they
\nmushroomed in every corner of the capital.<\/p>\n
Motorists used to be completely safe if they had already
\nlocked their car doors or windows but not now.<\/p>\n
Hammers and stones as well as crowbars were used to break
\nlocked doors and windows.<\/p>\n
The culprits stood by at quiet intersections and jumped out at
\nany car without fear.<\/p>\n
Public tension has grown in immeasurable ways as crooks have
\nbecome fiercer and bolder. In an attempt to reduce public
\ntension, police deployed dozens of plainclothes police at
\nvulnerable spots in the city.<\/p>\n
There are at least 31 crime spots in the capital considered to
\nbe \"red zones\" and which have been made known to the public in
\norder to fight the criminals.<\/p>\n
In November the police launched a special operation, locally
\ncalled Bersih Jaya, with a total of 240 personnel backed up by
\nsoldiers from the Jakarta Military Command to maintain security
\nin the capital.<\/p>\n
These patrols have proved effective so far. At least 112
\npeople suspected of committing street crimes have been arrested
\nand 12 of them shot as they resisted arrest and turned to attack
\nofficers.<\/p>\n
While admitting that streets are unsafe at night or after
\noffice hours, city police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman
\nrevealed that police daily received reports of three to four
\nstreet crimes at city police headquarters.<\/p>\n
However, the number could be much higher as many people
\npreferred not to report to the police.<\/p>\n
It is certainly a tough job for police and military personnel
\nin the joint patrols, as it has been predicted that the end of
\nthis year will still be marred by flourishing street crimes.<\/p>\n
Black money<\/p>\n
Middle class people from businessmen to housewives have fallen
\nvictim to the rising incidence of U.S. dollar scams allegedly
\nperpetrated by foreigners targeting gullible city residents
\ndesperate to make easy money.<\/p>\n
A senior officer at Jakarta Police said that the foreigners,
\nmost of whom allegedly are Africans, had taken advantage of the
\ndepreciation in the value of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar
\nto set up a foreign exchange scam.<\/p>\n
Since early this year, city police have arrested at least 20
\npeople from various countries suspected of being involved in the
\nscam.<\/p>\n
From May to August at least seven local people reported to
\npolice with their total losses from such scams being estimated at
\nUS$312,500.<\/p>\n
Many more however are believed to have become victims but they
\nare too ashamed to report their unfortunate fate.<\/p>\n
During the period, police took in one man from the Congo, 10
\npeople from Liberia, two from Nigeria and six from Cameroon for
\nthe above-mentioned offenses.<\/p>\n
In June, Central Jakarta Police detectives also arrested a 35-
\nyear-old Italian for allegedly passing off counterfeit American
\ndollars to a local trader. The latter was willing to accept
\n$1,000 in exchange for his $5,000 without any troublesome
\nprocedures, but it later proved he had been passed bogus notes.<\/p>\n
In July, police detectives arrested two Cameroon nationals at
\nthe Dai-Ichi Hotel in Central Jakarta for allegedly cheating a
\nlocal out of $4,000.<\/p>\n
Suspects Ekango Samuel, 33, and Michael Yenju, 23, -- both
\nreportedly coming from Douala city in Cameroon -- had fooled
\nSouth Jakartan Gembong TS by telling him they could duplicate
\ngreenbacks up to 10 times in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n
In September, after a careful reconnaissance, police
\napprehended three Cameroonians, five Nigerians, and two Liberians
\nsuspected of involvement in a scam carried out in notable hotels
\nin Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The five Nigerians confessed to having obtained over Rp 40
\nbillion ($3.6 million) from their activities.<\/p>\n
From the two Liberians, identified as Bill Smarat and David D.
\nDoe, who were arrested in an Ibis Hotel in Central Jakarta,
\npolice seized three boxes containing 3,000,000 pieces of black
\npaper cut to the size of U.S. dollar bills.<\/p>\n
The boxes were stamped: \"United States of America, Federal
\nReserve notes.\"<\/p>\n
The black dye smeared on the papers was reportedly to avoid
\nattracting the attention of potential thieves. When pushing for a
\nsale, the con men removed the original dollars from the pile and
\nrubbed the dye off to convince customers of the authenticity of
\nthe money.<\/p>\n
They attracted customers by offering rates well below normal,
\nand their victims were offered $100 for only $50.<\/p>\n
Victims, mostly currency traders and members of the middle and
\nupper classes, have come forward in Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The crooks, after giving a brief explanation, simply asked
\ntheir victims to hand over all the dollars.<\/p>",
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