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)