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.