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.