Is Jakarta safe?

Armed robbery is becoming an increasingly serious problem in Greater Jakarta. Many of the victims are bank customers forced to hand over their savings for fear of being shot.

It would be interesting to know the kinds of guns used by the criminals and how and where these guns were obtained.

The police, unable to get to bottom of these crimes, simply state that the criminals must have used "illegal guns".

According to the police, only 1,813 citizens in the country are legally licensed to own firearms.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo said those people with permits to own firearms were known to the police, and the armed robberies must have been committed by criminals in the possession of non-licensed guns.

The point is that many criminals use guns in the course of their crimes and ordinary citizens, especially bank clients, no longer feel safe when out on the streets.

Now is not the time to argue about whether the guns used by criminals are licensed or not; now is the time to put away the criminals and restore the public's trust in their personal safety.

People know that guns can be bought at markets, but only those who have the money can afford to purchase a gun to protect themselves from criminals.

However, the recent killing of PT Asaba president director Budy Harto Angsono and his bodyguard, a member of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus), proved that possessing a gun is no guarantee that you will be safe from danger.

Despite the possibility that the fatal shooting of Budy and his bodyguard was the result of a personal dispute, people hearing about the crime take it as further proof that nobody is safe.

The fatal shooting of Budy took place less than two months after PT Asaba's finance director was shot by unidentified assailants in Central Jakarta. Paulus Gunawan is still hospitalized and the police seem to have no leads in either of the shootings.

There is speculation Paulus' shooting is linked to the killing of Budy. What is clear is that both of the shootings were carried out by professional killers hired to commit murder.

One man involved in the personal protection business once told a local paper that to kill a person cost between Rp 20 million and Rp 25 million, while injuring someone cost between Rp 500,000 and Rp 5 million.

Police continue to deny that there are professional killers for hire in the country, despite the evidence to the contrary.

We believe that there are people who can be hired to kill. The police should stop denying the existence of killers for hire and start investigating where criminals are getting their guns from.

There are interesting points to be noted in the fatal shooting of Budy. First, his bodyguard was a member of Kopassus, clearly indicating that the bodyguard business not only exists, but also involves soldiers or police officers, a fact denied by military leaders.

There also are indications that the shooter was well-trained, raising questions about where he received this training.

Eyewitnesses said that they did not hear any shots, meaning the gun used by the killer was fitted with a silencer, which are meant only to be used by the military. This has been confirmed by the police.

Without pointing fingers at any group, we can only hope that the police will work harder to overcome the challenges in front of us.

Nonsense statements and denials are of no use. People do not care if the criminals use licensed or non-licensed guns. The situation is clear: armed robberies are becoming commonplace and two people were just shot dead in a public place in broad daylight.