40 detective units deployed to hunt robbery gangs

40 detective units deployed to hunt robbery gangs

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Reacting to the recent increase in the number of armed robberies,
Jakarta Police have set up 40 units of police detectives to hunt
down members of robbery syndicates in Greater Jakarta.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said that the
teams, each consisting of five police detectives, were now
patrolling the city and surrounding towns by night, with special
attention given to places police had identified as hideouts.

"We have been patrolling Greater Jakarta to investigate and
arrest members of robbery syndicates. They are all plainclothes
officers and only work in the evening as officers in each area
will monitor the situation by the day," he said.

He said that his officers had identified several places across
the city where robbers were believed to be hiding.

Firman acknowledged that the level and quantity of armed
robberies had increased in the last few months, attested both by
media reports and complaints from the public.

"Robbers are now cleverer than before as they are only
targeting places and individuals they know have a lot of money.
Most of recent robberies also used firearms to achieve their
objectives," he said.

According to police data, dozens of armed robberies have
occurred in the last seven days and police have not been able to
arrest any of the perpetrators.

A group of armed robbers broke into the house of businessman
Komarudin in Karawaci, Tangerang last Monday, and took Rp 300
million in cash. Armed robbers broke into Panji Wijaya's house in
Jagakarsa, South Jakarta later on the same day and took millions
of rupiah.

Businessman Suhartono, 58, was robbed by five people on his
way home from a bank in South Jakarta several days earlier. The
robbers took Rp 35 million from him.

Firman complained that while criminals continued to become
sophisticated, the police still lacked qualified personnel and
had insufficient budget, making it almost impossible for them to
work effectively to match the criminals.

"We are trying hard to secure all parts of the capital but
rising operational costs have forced us to make priorities in our
operations. We have not been able to continuously train our
personnel because of budget constraints," he said.

Firman said that aside from deploying the teams, the police
would only focus on banks and other financial centers such as
money changers.

"Our focus on financial centers doesn't mean that we don't
guard other places. We will continue to be on alert for crimes in
other places," he said.

Firman said that the police would also intensify operations to
search for firearms in several places in the capital to reduce
the number of illegal firearms circulating among the robbers.

Police said earlier that they had marked several areas in East
Jakarta, Bekasi, Depok and North Jakarta as places where illegal
guns were circulating.