A violent capital
A violent capital
The loss of a single police officer, whose task is to serve
and protect the public, is a tragic loss for society. Friday's
death of First Sergeant Witono is an even bigger tragedy for
Jakartans, coming at a time when the crime rate has been rising
and overstretching the capital's already understaffed police
force.
The Jakarta Police said Witono was killed while escorting a
consignment of gold when two men on a motorcycle approached him,
stabbed him, and then gunned him down. The motive of his killing
remains unclear, whether it was an attempted robbery or a
personal vendetta.
His death capped a week that was filled with violence. Earlier
last week, six alleged criminals were shot dead by police
officers in separate incidents in Metropolitan Jakarta. It is
estimated that 70 people have been gunned down this year by
police. There was also the shooting of an alleged extortionist by
Palestinian Ambassador Ribhi Awad on Tuesday. There is no dispute
about the ambassador's right to self-defense -- he shot the
perpetrator in the foot -- but the incident indicates that
criminals are becoming indiscriminate in their targets.
This all points to a worrying trend that the use of firearms,
could, but God forbids won't, soon become the norm for
Metropolitan Jakarta criminals.
The spate of shootings makes one wonder whether Jakarta is
spiraling into the New York of a bygone era, where there was so
much violence it was not safe for anyone to walk the streets.
This may be overdramatizing the situation a little, but at the
present rate, unless something is done to curtail violence and
crime, it could happen.
Witono's death gives greater ammunition to the proponents of
the Police Bill, now being deliberated by the House of
Representatives. If passed in its present form, the bill would
give unprecedented powers to the police in their war on crime.
The proponents argue that these additional powers are necessary
to allow the police to deal with the problems more effectively
and efficiently. Critics of the bill do not contest this point
but they fear that the extra powers could lead to abuses of
power, a justifiable concern given that there are already abuses.
It is the task of the lawmakers debating the bill to find a
formula that addresses both the need to improve public safety and
to prevent unwarranted excesses from the police.
Greater police powers alone however will not be sufficient to
combat crime. There is a nagging feeling that violence begets
more violence. Robbers will obtain and use firearms if they know
that police officers are not going to hesitate to shoot. The end
result of giving police greater powers could be an escalation of
violence, the very opposite of what the proponents of the new law
intend.
Fighting crime is not solely the police's responsibility. The
community, who are the victims of most crimes, cannot become
apathetic bystanders. They should make it their business to make
their city safe.
New York has shown that greater community participation could
turn one of the world's biggest metropolises from one of the most
dangerous cities to one of the safest, not only in the United
States, but across the world. The crime rate in Jakarta has not
yet scaled the heights that made New York notorious, but our
capital does not have to wait for that time before taking firm
action to curtail crime.