Nationwide crackdown on street thugs continues

Nationwide crackdown on street thugs continues

JAKARTA (JP): National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman
Astrosemitro ordered regional police yesterday to continue the
nationwide operation against street hoodlums.

Banurusman was quoted as saying by National Police spokesman
Brig. Gen. I.K. Ratta that the operation requires strong support
from the public and related institutions.

"Never spare a single street criminal," Ratta quoted
Banurusman as saying. "The preman problem cannot be solved by the
police alone," he said referring to the local term for hoodlums.

"We really need active participation from the people and
various related bodies to settle the problem," he added.

According to official figures, police nationwide have netted a
total of 11,787 thugs since the operation began on March 6.

Of those, 893 have been arraigned in court. The rest have been
either freed and put under close surveillance or undergone
vocational training provided by the military.

Of the country's 27 provinces, Jakarta, East Java and Central
Java have rounded up the largest number of hoodlums in the
ongoing operation, Ratta said.

Police in the capital city of Jakarta, for instance, have
netted a total of 6,755 suspected thugs. They were arrested while
harassing and terrorizing people.

Of that number, 569 have been sent to take two-week vocational
training courses at the city military regiment training center in
Condet, East Jakarta, and the State Police School in Lido,
Sukabumi, West Java which will end tomorrow.

"Consider preman as thugs whose activities involve drugs,
alcohol, sharp weapons or even guns," Ratta said.

The hoodlums, he said, usually mix with long-time criminals,
acting like "cowboys", controlling a specific territory of public
places and extorting people.

Ratta said the public is encouraged to report the presence of
hoodlums in their neighborhood to the authorities.

"Just take a piece of paper, write down the details and sent
it to Post Box 777 or 7777 in any province," he said. "We'll do
our best to immediately solve the problems," he promised.

The massive operation against hoodlums began following an
attack on two middle-rank police officers by 10 thugs at the
crowded Blok M shopping center in South Jakarta on the evening of
March 6. One of the officers died.

But the police insist the war against hoodlums had been
declared long before the Blok M incident.

"It's a routine operation, not revenge," Banurusman told a
hearing with members of the House of Representatives last month.

A couple of days after the incident, the police fatally shot
one of the 10 hoodlums who attacked the police officers. They
said the man was the one who masterminded the attack.

Police claimed that the suspect was shot when trying to run
away from being captured by police.

Despite harsh criticism of the police action and the treatment
of suspected preman, many people support the continuation of the
operation.

As the crackdown continues, public places, such as shopping
centers, bus terminals and red-light districts in many cities are
free of hoodlums. (bsr)