Citizens expect benefit from the presence of 'koban'

Wahyuana, The Jakarta Post/Bekasi

Many people panic somewhat whenever a police officer knocks on their door. They will immediately try to recall what it was that they could have done wrong.

But starting this year, whenever an officer knocks on your door, it may well be a effort by local police to improve their relations with the local community and an effort to improve services to the public.

"A police officer, First Brig. Jerry, visited us once. He is assigned to the koban near here," said Hamdani, a 35-year-old owner of a shop/house in Permata Plasa complex, West Bekasi, recently.

"He introduced himself and we talked about the community police programs for about two hours. I think the programs are good because they help bring police closer to the people. However, I haven't seen the programs materialize. Perhaps it's because our environment is already safe enough," he added.

Hamdani is not the only citizen enjoying the presence of police officers in a koban, in this case located in front of the Giant hypermarket near the West Bekasi toll gate. Another koban is located in the Pondok Ungu housing complex, North Bekasi.

For Salimun, chief security guard at Mega Mall Bekasi, the presence of koban in the area, which is full of shopping centers, has helped the work of the guards at the malls there.

"There were two thefts in our mall over the last three months. We managed to arrest the thieves and then handed them over to policemen in the koban. Since they do not have the authority to investigate, they handed the suspects over to South Bekasi Police," he said.

Bekasi started its pilot project three months ago with the assistance from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Koban are one-room police stations that were introduced in Japan in 1881 to protect officers from the elements. They are open at all hours, with between nine and 15 officers working in three shifts.

The project is a part of the 'Support for the Reform of the Indonesian National Police' program being undertaken by the Indonesian and Japanese governments. The success of the project has prompted Bekasi Police to plan adding 12 more koban next year.

In commemorating the 55th anniversary of the Jakarta Police -- which incorporated the areas of Jakarta, Bekasi, Tangerang and Depok -- on Monday, the city police are focusing on improving services in the 284 police posts in the area.

However, not all citizens have obtained benefit from the presence of koban.

Activist Benny Tunggul Hasiholan of the Environment Community Union (ECU), who lives in the Villa Taman Kartini housing complex, said that not all citizens are familiar with the concept of koban.

"There has been lack of integration between the police and society generally. It seems there an overlap of authority between officers at the koban and the South Bekasi Police," he said. "We get confused about where we are supposed to go if we have any problems."

Benny pointed out that police officers in the koban have yet to be able to manage traffic in congested areas. He hoped that officers in the koban also focused attention to curbing drug abuse in Bekasi, particularly among teenagers.