National crime rate increases by 10%: Police chief
JAKARTA (JP): After a year of feeling the pressure in handling the soaring crime rate and massive rallies, the police saw more hard work awaiting them in 1999.
Speaking in a traditional year-end press conference on Wednesday, National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Roesmanhadi said that police across the country had so far recorded a total of 157,180 crimes this year, which is a 10 percent increase over the 142,711 cases in 1998.
Although the figures excluded looting, arson and other offenses that occurred during the outbreaks of unrest nationwide, the 10-percent growth is described as the largest for years.
East Java, Jakarta, West Java, North Sumatra and Central Java have been marked as the country's top five crime-prone provinces this year (see table).
"Crimes have been both more frequent and speedier than before," Roesmanhadi, who was accompanied by a number of his top brass, said.
This year crimes nationwide occurred at a rate of one every three minutes and 20 seconds, or 20 minutes faster that last year's rating, he added.
The crime rate per 100,000 head of population increased from 72 to 78 this year.
Out of the entire volume of cases the police had only been able to solve some 57 percent compared to last year's 60 percent, the three-star general said.
Roesmanhadi blamed the financial crisis, the spirit of reform, the country's instability and the limited size of the 180,000- strong police force as the main factors that had sparked the increasing number of crimes.
"The greater incidence of crimes this year is closely related to the prolonged economic crisis and the social and political tension here," he said.
Roesmanhadi estimated that these unfavorable conditions would still appear in 1999, when the nation is to hold another general election and an election to choose the country's fourth president.
The events have strong potential to trigger fresh unrest and other types of crime, he added.
"Police also predict that more brawls between groups of different political backgrounds will color our crime records ahead of and during the election campaigns," he said.
The severe monetary crisis hanging over the nation in 1999 might further worsen the overall situation, he said.
Roesmanhadi therefore encouraged people of all walks of life to give helping hands to the police to head off possible fresh mass crime, which could end up in anarchy.
"Some people have the guts to commit anarchic acts because they know the shortage in the police force," he said.
He reminded people that living in what this year have been dubbed the safest provinces was not a guarantee of anything.
Roesmanhadi cited the Ketapang tragedy in Central Jakarta on Nov. 22, which had claimed 14 lives and saw 16 churches attacked.
Such incidents could easily be sparked in other areas.
"It's proven that it also happened in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara shortly after the Ketapang incident," he said.
This year Bengkulu, North Sulawesi and Jambi are the provinces with the lowest reported crime rates.
In the annual police report, the kind of crimes which sharply increased this year included armed robbery, vehicle theft and theft with violence.
"These three types of crimes alone have shown a 30 percent increase," he said.
The number of vehicle theft reports, for instance, jumped from 17,300 in 1997 to 24,179 this year.
The armed robberies grew to 54,625 from 41,760 cases, he said.
Besides the "pure" crimes, the 157,180 cases also included bank scams, treason and the still unsolved cases of the murder spree targeting suspected black magic practitioners in East and Central Java.
In narcotics-related matters, at the final count, Roesmanhadi said that the police had handled 630 cases, close to last year's figure of 622.
"In this year's cases, we've arrested 888 suspects, including 38 foreigners," he said.
Hours after the meeting, a similar press briefing was held in city police headquarters where Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman released the round-up of crime in the capital.
Noegroho said the city police had experienced a drop in their crime detection record and this was mostly due to lack of human resources.
"The number of crimes reported this year shows a sharp increase but we were less successful in solving cases than in the previous year," he said.
The city police recorded a total of 18,674 cases, compared to last year's 17,950 cases.
Noegroho said that East and Central Jakarta this year took the unwanted top positions for areas that recorded the highest number of crimes.
During the briefing, Noegroho also asked the public to be on the alert for student protests that might rock the city again in 1999.
As was the case this year, he said, their movement might again turn anarchic and cause heavy street congestion in the capital which would allow criminals to carry out their actions.
Noegroho also pledged to serve Jakartans better in 1999 by giving early notification if there were any route diversions caused by street rallies.
"To avoid public resentment, we'll inform the public earlier if there are any street rallies in areas of Jakarta," he said. (emf)
Table: Crime Rankings
1998 1997Province Total Rank Total Rank
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E. Java 23,534 1 19,421 2
Jakarta 18,674 2 19,832 1
W. Java 17,653 3 19,314 3
N. Sumatra 12,630 4 10,083 5
C. Java 10,571 5 12,319 4
S. Sumatra 9,381 6 7,513 6
S. Sulawesi 7,267 7 7,019 7
N. Sulawsi 6,213 8 5,991 8
Aceh 4,663 9 3,462 9
Bali 4,571 10 3,137 11
E. Kalimantan 4,176 11 2,858 15
Riau 4,020 12 3,328 10
Lampung 3,552 13 3,086 12
W. Nusa Tenggara 3,209 14 2,566 16
S. Kalimantan 3,197 15 2,933 14
C. Sulawesi 2,920 16 1,866 21
W. Sumatra 2,914 17 2,950 13
E.Nusa Tenggara 2,854 18 2,147 17
Maluku 2,586 19 2,041 19
Irian Jaya 2,214 20 1,934 20
Yogyakarta 2,177 21 1,683 22
W. Kalimantan 2,107 22 2,048 18
C. Kalimantan 1,506 23 978 26
E. Timor 1,256 24 1,139 24
Jambi 1,174 25 1,162 23
SE. Sulawesi 1,123 26 1,019 25
Bengkulu 1,038 27 882 27
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Total 142,771 157,180
Source: National Police