Police, military join hands in patroling city
Police, military join hands in patroling city
By K. Basrie and Wahyudi MP
JAKARTA (JP): Anyone can fall prey to crime. And anyone
unlucky enough to be a victim would no doubt feel better if the
police were nearby.
Today, many people expect the police to patrol neighborhood
streets. But does one ever consider the day-to-day problems faced
by police in carrying out their duty to keep the city secure?
With Jakarta spanning an area of 650 square kilometers, police
patrol units have a lot to cover on their limited fuel
allowances.
Nobody has probably tried to imagine how the police patrol
units get adequate fuel to run their vehicles. The problem has
been a headache for the police themselves for years.
A limited budget apparently forces the government to allocate
a very unreasonable amount of money for the police patrols.
A patroller's motorbike, for instance, is only supplied with
three liters of gas per 24 hours.
A car gets only seven liters of gas per day, or enough for a
35-kilometer route only.
Each patrolmen is required to run their vehicles at no more
than 30 kph. They then have to stop at certain points, meaning
that the vehicles will consume more petrol. Not to mention the
traffic jams.
The patrol equipment supplied by the government is also
limited and far below the minimum standard. The torches that
patrolmen are issued, for example, use batteries that have a very
short lifespan.
When you see an on-duty patrolman on a motorbike, never assume
that the vehicle was bought by state funds. It may be a public
donation. Some motorcycles used for daily patrols are even owned
by the officers themselves.
From this point of view, it seems that the government is aware
of the police effort to collect as much "public participation" as
possible.
A number of individuals, private companies and organizations
have donated vehicles to the police to help solve the problem.
"We really hope that more and more people will soon follow
suit," said City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo.
Creative
The limited amount of fuel has, in a way, led patrolmen to be
more creative.
The head of the On-the-Alert city police, which supervises
patrol squads, Col. Heniyoso, said that sometimes they have to
keep some vehicles in the garage in order to save the petrol for
other cars.
"We never give up. We think and think on how to survive to
serve and secure the public," said the colonel.
Police "creativity" is also proven by the fuel supply they
receive from certain parties to help the patrolmen operate.
City police officers, now totaling 15,000, have at least 100
cars and more than 300 motorcycles for patrol units in Jakarta,
home of 11 million people.
There are ways for police precincts in Greater Jakarta to get
extra gas from the public.
A police precinct head, who asked for anonymity, said his
office gets 100 liters of petrol every month from a gas station
owner.
Other police precinct heads said they use money, collected
from people who are satisfied with police services, for the
patrol units.
Another police precinct head said: "If we keep on thinking
about being honest or dishonest or waiting for the appropriate
fund from the state budget, we will be idle."
In order to back up the police patrolmen, the city military
command set up motorcycle platoons two years ago.
The motorcycle troops patrol the city daily and are ready to
respond to every public call.
"The platoons are always ready to respond to public calls
through radio pager," said spokesman Lt. Col. Didi Supandi.
People can call the troops for help by contacting telephone
number 3902222 and channeling their message to the troops' pager
19201 for Central Jakarta, 19202 for North Jakarta, 19203 for
West Jakarta, 19204 for South Jakarta, 19205 for East Jakarta,
19206 for Tangerang and 19207 for Bekasi.
Jakarta's crime rate is high. Last year a crime occurred every
20 minutes and 21 seconds. In 1993, a crime was recorded every 16
minutes and 30 seconds. This records indicates that Jakarta
police have succeeded in reducing the number of crimes.