City police appeal for public help

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.