'Officers behind firearms trade'

There appears to be little doubt that armed robberies and murders involving hit men are becoming more common. Many residents are worried about the situation as they believe that errant security personnel are involved. This would seem to be backed up by the police investigation into the cold-blooded murder of a businessmen and his Special Forces bodyguard, which found that the murderer was well trained and used a standard military-issue weapon. The Jakarta Post asked some residents how they felt about the issue.

Manan, not his real name, 56, is a sidewalk vendor selling soft drinks in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta. He lives nearby with his wife and four children:

Now bullets appear to be worth more than people's lives. People can afford firearms despite their high price. Some of my friends say they have guns.

Unfortunately, many firearms are misused for criminal purposes. And I believe that most police and military officers are involved in the gun trade.

Many members of the security forces are behind the brothels, as well as the gambling dens, that you can find all over the city.

In a way, I can understand that the need to survive is the main factor that encourages these officers to resort to illegal activities.

I also believe that the criminals who are involved in shootings are not of ordinary, run-of-the-mill people. They are well-trained in the use of firearms.

It is nonsense if the police deny that there are organized gangs of hit men as these gangs have been around ever since the Dutch colonial days. Now, however, they are better organized than ever.

Besides, police officers are so poorly paid that they need to earn extra money. This encourages them to get involved in these kinds of crimes as they have both the guns and the power.

Marsha, not her real name, 38, is an employee with a private bank on Jl. Gajah Mada, West Jakarta. She resides in Depok with her husband and four children:

These awful crimes involving firearms have made me really worried. Honestly, I feel scared now whenever I take money from the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM).

I have to keep an sharp eye open all the time. I feel terrified every time I have to withdraw money for fear of a sudden attack by robbers.

The most distressing time for me was when I was a teller. Every day I had to go here and there carrying large sums of money, sometimes even billions on one trip.

There was only the driver, a security officer without a gun, and another of my colleagues in the car. You can imagine how scared I was.

People's lives are worth nothing when money comes into play. Everyone's life is at risk at every minute from these merciless crooks.

Worse, we can no longer rely on the police to protect us. They seem unable to do anything to stop these armed bandits.

I guess they are also involved in the misuse of firearms for criminal purposes. We can see this from the type of guns used and the expertise of the raiders and hit men in many of the cases that have been reported, right?

Suta, not his real name, 32, is a security guard with a private bank on Jl. S. Parman, West Jakarta. He lives in Karet, South Jakarta, with his wife and daughter:

To feel worried is very human, I guess, and I think we have a right to be worried given the current alarming level of violent crime.

I used to provide security for bank officials when they were delivering large amounts of money by car. I was always terrified of a robbery taking place.

The most scary time was when our car would get stuck in a traffic jam. I really had to be on my toes all the time.

Worse still, we usually did not take a police officer along with us when transporting cash. I don't know for sure why the bank took a risk like this.

Probably, it had something to do with the cost. For one trip, as far as I know, the bank would have to pay more or less Rp 100,000 to an escorting police officer.

For this reason, we proposed to the bank that the security guards should be armed. There's been no response, however.

I don't think the crooks are ordinary criminals in most of these cases. So, it's no wonder if people are suspicious that rogue security personnel are involved.

-- Leo Wahyudi S.