Over 5,000 arrested in anti-crime crackdown
Over 5,000 arrested in anti-crime crackdown
JAKARTA (JP): More than 5,000 people have been arrested in a
three-day crime crackdown, Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami
Nata said yesterday.
Hamami said the 5,356 people arrested in Operasi Kilat Jaya
(OKJ) III, were motorists and pedestrians found carrying guns,
knives, alcohol, marijuana and other drugs, including Ecstasy.
Police confiscated Rp 3,920,600 (US$1,693) cash, 248
motorcycles and 82 cars which police believe to be stolen, Hamami
said.
The operation involved 1,000 officers and was carried out
throughout Jakarta, Bekasi, Depok and Tangerang. The operation
went from midnight until dawn.
Of the 5,356 arrested, there were 1,033 suspected criminals,
325 prostitutes, 372 drug abusers and 130 people possessing
pornography.
The remaining 3,496 people were netted for minor violations
like not carrying an identity card or a drivers' license.
Evidence confiscated included three guns, two toy guns, one
home-made gun, 180 knives, about two kilograms of marijuana, over
30,000 bottles of alcohol, dozens of pornographic laser discs and
videos, 477 Ecstasy pills and about 53,000 barbiturate pills.
Hamami did not say if everyone arrested would be tried.
"Those found carrying sharp weapons and guns, mostly repeated
offenders, will be prosecuted soon," Hamami said.
"They might be planning to commit crimes," he said.
Criticism
The operation, which will be conducted again on a larger
scale, has not yet been proven to affect the number of crimes in
the city.
Many people accused the police of lacking professionalism.
They said police conducted the operation only to meet their
superior's targets.
"As a result, they did not follow the proper procedures. We
did not know our rights when they questioned us," one person
said.
A private employee, Joko, said: "A friend of mine was netted
in the operation by Central Jakarta police officers for carrying
what the police said was pornographic laser disc. Sadly, the
police also took his handphone and Rp 1.8 million cash which, of
course, has nothing to do with the discs,"
A university student living in Central Jakarta questioned the
police's knowledge of the law.
"They arrested me after they found laser discs, which I just
rented from a rental shop, in my car. They said that the discs
were porn movies. I told them many times they were ordinary
films, but still they listed me as a suspect," the student said.
In Tangerang, a butcher and his wife were netted on the
operation's first day for carrying a knife he used for work.
The couple were driving to a local market when police stopped
them and found the beef knife in the car.
It is still unknown whether the couple had been released or
not.
Hamami asked police precinct heads whether all the materials
were netted in the operation.
"I'm afraid these items were from the officers' kitchen,"
Hamami said while looking at the 180 sharp weapons.
Besides reducing general crimes, the operation was also
designed to combat the recent spate of robberies against taxi
drivers and bank customers, Hamami said.
For that purpose, a separate operation was conducted by
Jakarta police detectives to back up personnel in the OKJ III
operation. (bsr/27)