Police install complaints boxes in 43 subdistricts
Police install complaints boxes in 43 subdistricts
JAKARTA (JP): City Police Deputy Chairman Brig. Gen. Hamaminata yesterday installed letter boxes in 43 subdistricts throughout the city with the aim of collecting letters of complaint from the public.
The plan is that people will deposit letters in the boxes with details of complaints about police service in relation to activities such as traffic control, crime and public safety, Hamaminata said.
He said that the provision of the boxes was intended to encourage the public to abide by the existing rules and to support the national discipline movement launched by President Soeharto on May 20.
The identity of people lodging complaints using the boxes would be withheld, Hanaminata said, adding that the letters of complaint need not be posted, as police officers would personally empty the boxes each day.
"The letters of complaint will be evaluated at the city police headquarters," he said.
City police introduced a similar program earlier which was called Kotak Pos 777, or Post Box 777. It proved ineffective, however, because it was centered on police stations.
In order to encourage more letters, this time the boxes have been positioned at offices of the subdistrict administration, with the cooperation of local officials.
Optimal
Hamaminata acknowledged that services rendered by police had not yet been optimal. He said the shortcomings were largely due to lack of personnel. One police officer currently has to serve 774 people, he said, whereas the ratio regarded by the United Nations to be ideal is one officer for every 350 people.
Nevertheless, the 1:774 ratio in the capital is much better than the national ratio of 1:1,200, he said.
The ratio of police officers per capita in Indonesia is the lowest among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The ratio in Singapore, for example, is 1:450, Malaysia 1:560, and the Philippines 1:660.
On the question of Jakarta's perpetual traffic jams, Hamaminata said the congestion was partly the result of a growth imbalance between cars and roads. The number of cars and motorbikes on the road in Jakarta was growing at an annual rate of 14 percent, he said, while the road system was expanding at a rate of only 1.2 percent per year.
Hamaminata urged the city council to discuss ways reducing the increase in vehicles in the city. "If the growth in the number of cars and motorbikes is not checked, we fear there will be worse traffic jams in the city," he said. (29)