'Police not acting on kidnappings'

'Police not acting on kidnappings'

Following the murder of businessman Boedyharto Angsono and his
bodyguard, police have been seen as doing everything in their
power to find the killers. At the same time, a series of
sensational and horrific kidnappings have been in the headlines,
but the police have been viewed as lax in their efforts to
investigate these crimes. A number of residents told The Jakarta
Post the police did not really care when it came to crimes
affecting the poor.

Laila, not her real name, 29, works at a company in South
Jakarta. She lives with her son in Halim Perdanakusumah, East
Jakarta:

I think the number of kidnappings is increasing because the
police ignore them.

Perhaps the kidnapping cases are not seen as lucrative. It
would be different if the abducted children were from rich
families and the cases involved hundreds of millions of rupiah in
ransom. I'm sure then the police would be eager to investigate
the cases.

Everybody knows that sometimes police investigations depend on
money. If it will not benefit them financially, the police are
reluctant to bother with an investigation, I guess.

Compared to the police investigation of the shooting of the
president of PT Asaba and his bodyguard, the police have done
nothing about the kidnappings.

The police are enthusiastic to investigate the shooting
because it deals with a rich person.

Besides, the media has blown up the case so much that the
police will do their best to find the killers.

Yos, 32, works at a company in East Jakarta. He lives in Kayu
Putih, East Jakarta, with his husband and daughter:

People believe that the police are only serious about those
cases that will benefit them.

The kidnappings are seen as minor cases because the victims
come from poor families.

It is different with the assassination of the PT Asaba
president. Everyone has heard about this case from the media. All
this media coverage has encouraged the police to take real
action.

In addition, the case involves a rich and important person.
The police don't want to see their already bad reputation suffer
even more by failing to solve the murder.

Maybe they will be careful in dealing with money because of
the media scrutiny. Reputation is far more important than money
in this case.

Aman, not his real name, 56, is a sidewalk vendor in
Petamburan, Central Jakarta. He lives nearby with his wife and
two children:

I am sad that nothing is being done to catch the kidnappers.
People generally cannot rely on the police.

In reality, the police don't do anything about thugs and
crooks. They let them operate freely. I have seen it many times,
police officers looking the other way for these criminals for a
little money.

The police don't seem to know how to deal with the
kidnappings, maybe because they are difficult to solve and aren't
lucrative.

Maybe they think they won't benefit financially from
investigating the kidnappings.

It is different in the shooting of the businessman. He was
rich and his family is likely to provide financial support for
the investigation.

That motivates the police to take serious action to find the
killers.

Also, everybody knows about the murder because the media has
reported on it so much and has watched the performance of the
police.

They are afraid of all this media coverage, I guess. So they
are serious about finding the killers.

-- Leo Wahyudi S.