Blok M security to be improved, police say
Blok M security to be improved, police say
JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta police have pledged to make the
Blok M shopping area more secure this year.
South Jakarta Police Precinct Chief Lt. Col. SY Wenas said
recently that police have guaranteed that the number of crimes in
the area will be progressively reduced this year.
"We have analyzed and prepared everything that could help us
paralyze the operations of several groups of hoodlums, who occupy
certain areas of the business district," Wenas told The Jakarta
Post recently.
Several places around the Blok M shopping area, one of the
most famous shopping centers in the city built in the 1960s, has
been widely known for years as a center for a number of hoodlum
gangs from different ethnic groups.
The location has become notorious for criminal acts and inter-
gang clashes.
"With the support of officials from related institutions, we
hope that the number of crimes such as picking pockets, extortion
and fighting can be reduced even further," Wenas said.
His statements were based on the fact that no single gang can
now be found in the area, thanks to an intensive operation
conducted by the local police.
"Now we receive two or three cases per week," he said, while
in previous years police handled dozens of cases per day.
But he warned that the number of street crimes could increase
again if illegal street vendors continue to mushroom around the
shopping area and the bus terminal.
"Controlling crime is not only the police department's task,"
he said. "Public cooperation and understanding and proper law
enforcement by all government offices concerned are also
required."
Thousands of traders, mostly without permits, have blocked the
roads causing difficulties for vehicles and passersby. This
condition encourages criminal activity.
"The history of Blok M reveals that the birth of hoodlum gangs
there was a direct result of the steady growth of illegal street
vendors," said Wenas.
The traders were removed by the local authorities only when
high-ranking officials and important state visitors visited the
shopping area.
Wenas also urged the authorities to help remove the increasing
number of unauthorized parking attendants in the area.
"By clearing out the illegal street traders and parking men, I
believe that crime in the Blok M area will drop remarkably," he
said.
According to the latest records the entry and exit gates of
the bus terminal and Aldiron Plaza are still prone to crime,
particularly extortion.
The recent anti-crime operations have lowered the figures of
the number of crime in the area.
"I am confident the number of crimes will be reduced
significantly in the following years," he said. (bsr)