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)