Jakarta becomes a city of fear
The city's growing crime rate is making Jakartans insecure. Rumors of riots or brawls are enough to raise one's level of fear. But even with crime becoming almost commonplace, people find it hard to pinpoint the exact source of their fear. And now frightened Jakartans are arming themselves in the name of self- protection.
The Jakarta Post reporters Budiman Moerdijat, Devi M. Asmarani, Ivy Susanti, Junaidi, Kosasih Derajat, Stevie Emilia and photographer Arief Suhardiman look into the issue. Related articles on Page 5.
JAKARTA (JP): What scares Harry Indrawan most these days is his doubt that the police are able to protect him or anyone else from the city's wave of crime.
"Crimes happen anywhere. Each day, there's reports of this or that robbery or brawl. It seems that nothing can stop the crimes from happening," the 32 year-old state bank employee said.
Recent reports of frequent taxi robberies involving the drivers also worry Harry, a regular taxi user.
Reports of passengers, mostly women and foreigners, being robbed and sometimes wounded before being dumped on faraway streets alarm Harry. Taxis used to be the safest means of public transportation for those who did not want to risk being the target of pickpockets on public buses.
Realizing that he should start protecting himself, Harry now takes the precaution of leaving all his valuables at home, thereby hoping to avoid attracting the attention of criminals.
He is also considering buying self-defense equipment, something quite a few Jakartans have done.
"But, I really wish it wasn't necessary to carry self-defense gear. I wish everything would go back to normal, just as it used to be," Harry said wistfully.
Harry is only one of many Jakartans who are apprehensive about the increase in crime across the capital city, which, within just a few months, has changed greatly from a safe place to live into a kind of war zone.
Scary reports of street brawls, toll road robberies, looting, arson, bomb threats have become daily fare nowadays.
Adding fuel to the flames, many Jakartans are still traumatized by the mob violence last May, when crowds of people looted and burned down shops, mostly those owned by Chinese- Indonesians, in several parts of the city. The three days of bloody rioting took place before the very eyes of security troops who did nothing but watch looters go about their business. Worse still, scores of Indonesian women of Chinese descent were reportedly gang raped and sexually assaulted at the time.
Since then, more and more violence has broken out in the capital, as if Jakartans, once known for their kindness and friendliness, have resorted to violence to settle even the most trivial matter.
In November, 13 people died in a clash between student protesters and security personnel at the Semanggi cloverleaf. The next day, riots, although lesser in scale than those in May, erupted in several commercial districts of the city.
That same month, rumors that Ambonese Christians burned down a mosque sparked another bloody riot that resulted in at least 14 deaths when Muslims took to the streets in retaliation. Most of the victims in the incident were Ambonese, natives of Maluku province. Besides human casualties, 22 churches and several shops in Central and West Jakarta were either burned or damaged.
Because of sporadic rioting and looting, a number of countries have issued travel advisories warning their nationals about nonessential travel to Indonesia, and embassies send nationals living here updates on the local situation.
While the U.S. State Department has warned Americans to delay nonessential travel to Jakarta, Japan maintains a level-two travel warning for the country.
In the city, some people are afraid to leave their houses unattended, while others have armed themselves with various self- defense devices.
The devices range from the most common and less harmless -- such as palm-size mace sprays, stab proof vests and tear gas sprays -- to more perilous weapons. The May rapes created a market for chastity belts (locally called anti-rape corsets). Most of the devices are offered for sale by word of mouth, or advertised in local papers.
One dealer says the sale of defense devises are on the rise again, with people anticipating more unrest in the lead-up to the elections scheduled for June 7.
Prices of self-defense gear vary from Rp 50,000 for tear gas spray to Rp 30 million for a licensed pistol.
Despite the fear the increase in crime generates, the National Police revealed in its year-end report that the number of crimes in Jakarta dropped to 18,674 cases last year from 19,832 cases in 1997, according to the city police.
But this year, the police predict a rise in certain crimes such as theft, robbery with violence and assault. Though such crimes were prevalent in past years, the character of the crimes has changed as criminals have become fiercer and bolder.
Rapid change
Noted psychologist Sartono Mukadis expressed surprise at the rapid change in Jakartans' behavior. He said that as the situation worsened, people started losing hope that things would get better.
"I feel scared myself. I think we're in a situation -- and I wish I were wrong -- which is close to breaking point. We can't predict people's behavior anymore. We don't know what will or will not offend people these days. People can easily turn wild and erupt into anger for small or unreasonable matters," he told the Post.
Sartono pointed out that receiving protection from the police or security officers was highly unlikely nowadays because they are overburdened by extra duty such as guarding the People's Consultative Assembly and House of Representatives (MPR/DPR) compound and blocking student demonstrators from approaching the MPR/DPR building.
"See for yourself. Do you see any police officers when you're driving at night? If something happens to you, who will you ask for help?" Sartono remarked.
As though taking Sartono's word for it, many motorists are cautious whenever they approach an intersection because they fear they may become easy targets of hoodlums who often disguise themselves as street hawkers or beggars, whose numbers have increased rapidly in the wake of the country's economic meltdown.
Sociologist Paulus Wirutomo of the University of Indonesia said that hawkers and beggars should not be blamed for the rise in crime.
"I know that many people feel insecure these days. But they can't just make wild accusation that all street hawkers are criminals. In a situation like this we can't just simply clean them off the streets. What would they eat? But if they are kept in order by the presence of security officers, they wouldn't commit any crimes," Paulus told the Post.
He said the high unemployment rate is one of the factors contributing to the escalating crime rate.
"It's true that not all jobless people turn into criminals, but being unemployed gives one the feeling of having no status in society. People with this feeling can easily be persuaded to commit crime because they have nothing to lose," Paulus said, adding that the unstable political situation in the country also prompts more and more people to commit crime.
And with the situation worsening, many people have lost the cooperative spirit, making them reluctant to take action to prevent crime, even when it occurs in their own neighborhood, he said.
Both Sartono and Paulus agree that there would be less crime if the economic and political condition along with the security situation were back under control.
Sartono said that at present, many Jakartans were pinning their hopes on a smooth and clean general election to elect a legitimate leader to help the country out of its problems.
Extensive reports on escalating crime certainly put the Jakarta Police under the spotlight. Some people go so far as to accuse the police of failing to perform their duty to protect people.
Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang denied that the police were being passive and ignoring people's fears.
"The police are on alert 24 hours a day to accept people's complaints," he said. "We have also intensified the operation to fight crime in the city to restore people's sense of security."
In the last two months, he said, the police have arrested 205 criminals, 79 of whom were shot. Twenty-one out of the 79 died.