Crime on the rise

It is now a public secret that crime in the capital and elsewhere in the country is on the rise, whether we like it or not. Many people are asking if taking a bus or taxi is still safe. Foreign tourists might even ask themselves if going to nightclubs or listening to music in hotel lobbies is still an enjoyable thing to do.

The reason is mainly because the police, who are supposed to protect society, more often than not arrest the wrong people when conducting raids in search of illegal drugs and other illegal activities.

A case in point is the police raid on May 13 on street vendors selling illegal goods near the downtown Glodok Plaza. When the street vendors became violent it was because they felt the police were taking away their livelihood and their small profits. The rioting only showed that they had lost their senses because of their desperate economic position.

It is believed that the number of unemployed young people is also increasing, with many factories shutting down. Police should concentrate on arresting the true culprits and intensifying their patrols in search of the criminals who are roaming the capital.

Drug abusers, gambling dens, massage parlors, houses of prostitution and transvestite cafes are not the sources of the national unrest which constitutes a threat to the country's economy.

The Glodok riot following the police raids on VCD vendors surely was not an excellent promotion for attracting more foreign investors, on whom the country's economy so badly depends.

It is about time the police, with their limited manpower, shift their focus to fighting smuggling activities, not interfering in the interarchipelagic trade involving so many small workers.

The Jakarta regional authorities should not take threatening measures for small things like parking permits, while allowing beggars to roam the city, school buildings to remain unrepaired and serious sewage problems and street flooding to go unattended without proper care.

If the little men unite in protest against the meddling of the authorities in their meager livings, a sort of "people power" movement may be formed sooner or later. And lawlessness may then prevail, which would make things more difficult to handle.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta