Police impound vehicles from teens on wheels<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Operation Cleansing resulted in 100 motorbikes
\nand 46 cars being impounded from night-time, daredevil street
\nracers in a recent raid on major roads in the city.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Military Command said yesterday the raid, which
\nincluded Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Casablanca, was
\nconducted on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n
Col. Dharma Kusuma from the Jakarta Military Command said most
\nof the night racers caught red-handed were high school and
\nuniversity students.<\/p>\n
After being given a \"lesson\", the night racers were sent back
\nhome, but their vehicles were held by anti-crime personnel at
\nthe military garrison pending legal proceedings.<\/p>\n
\"The night racers pose danger not only to themselves but also
\nto others. And often their actions lead to the death of the night
\nracers or innocent passers-by,\" said Dharma.<\/p>\n
Operasi Bersih, the local name for the anti-crime operation,
\ndid not originally target the speed demons. It started to crack
\ndown on them only recently after the press reported that the
\nphenomenon seems to be getting worse despite the ongoing anti-
\ncrime drive.<\/p>\n
The police force, which is directly responsible for tackling
\nthe daredevils, recently admitted failure to thoroughly resolve
\nthe case.<\/p>\n
Col. Hotman Siagian, head of the Traffic Directorate at the
\nCity Police Headquarters, said the failure resulted from the
\nlenient penalties meted out by the traffic law for such
\nlawbreakers.<\/p>\n
\"Under existing law, we are only allowed to impound the
\nracers' vehicles and ticket drivers found guilty of exceeding the
\nspeed limit,\" Hotman told The Jakarta Post last week.<\/p>\n
Currently motorists are fined a maximum of Rp 5,000 (US$2.29)
\nfor speeding.<\/p>\n
\"We think we should apply stricter penalties to offenders,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Also, some officers, argued the impotence of the police to
\ntackle the street race case is because most night racers are
\nchildren of influential high ranking officials.<\/p>\n
In thee past the night racers found it easy to avoid penalties
\nand reclaim their vehicles from the police thanks to the clout of
\ntheir parents or relations.<\/p>\n
Stickers<\/p>\n
In a related development, the Jakarta Military Command said
\nyesterday the personnel of the anti-crime operation had attached
\n17,871 \"anti-crime\" stickers containing the Starpage pager
\nnumbers of the Operation Cleansing squad at public phone booths
\nacross the greater Jakarta area.<\/p>\n
Col. Sutarto, Operational Assistant to the Jakarta Military
\nCommand, urged the public to contact the numbers if they see
\nsomething suspicious or witness a crime.<\/p>\n
\"Ten minutes after being contacted the motorbike patrolmen
\nwill arrive at the location,\" Sutarto pledged.<\/p>\n
The pager number is 19201 for Central Jakarta, 19202 for North
\nJakarta, 19203 for West Jakarta, 19204 for South Jakarta, 19205
\nfor East Jakarta, 19206 for Tangerang and 19207 for Bekasi.<\/p>\n
The Starpage numbers are 314-4000, 310-1188, 390-2222 and 331-
\n100. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-impound-vehicles-from-teens-on-wheels-1447893297",
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