City police appeal for public help

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With only around 24,000 personnel, Jakarta Police acknowledged during their 56th anniversary on Tuesday that they could not maintain security in the capital alone, and appealed to the public to work hand-in-hand with police in the effort.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said that past experiences had shown that the crime rate could not be brought down by police work alone including routine patrols, investigation and arrests.

"The crime rate is as high as before. There is no significant change. Our efforts, including arrests and routine patrols, only contribute 25 percent to the solving and prevention of crimes. The other 75 percent is played by the public," he said after a ceremony marking Jakarta Police's anniversary.

Firman said that looking at this significant role, police needed to have the public's full cooperation.

He said that residents in neighborhood units, community units, subdistricts and districts were at the front line in efforts to prevent crimes and solve cases as they were the first to know if something was happening.

The police had previously acknowledged that the quantity and sophistication of crimes, specially armed robberies, had risen in the last few months as reflected in both media reports and complaints from the public.

According to data from the police, dozens of armed robberies have occurred in the last seven days. Police have not been able to arrest any of the perpetrators to date.

Police also announced that the capital was now a terrorist target after bombing mastermind Azahari bin Husin was killed during a police raid last month.

They said that the escape of Azahari's colleague Noordin M. Top opened the possibility that he and his new recruits could launch retaliatory attacks in the capital.

"To be able to gain the needed public support, each district chief has spoken with religious leaders in his or her respective area while each subdistrict chief will hold discussions with young people in neighborhoods and community units," Firman said.