Police take tough action against student brawlers

Police take tough action against student brawlers

JAKARTA (JP): North Jakarta Police have taken stern action
against disobedient high school students in a bid to counter the
rising death toll from interschool brawls this year.

Lt. Col. Rismawan, the head of North Jakarta Police, admitted
that the precinct was prone to brawls, especially among technical
high school students.

"I can no longer call it mere juvenile delinquency," he said.
"It has become student brutality."

He said police deal directly with students involved in brawls
and those caught with sharp weapons during school hours. They
are usually questioned, a dossiers prepared and all information
is then passed on to prosecutors for further action.

"It's already a crime, we can't tolerate it," he said.

"I have listed STM Bahariwan in Kelapa Gading as the most
problematic school. Its students are aggressive," he said, adding
that students from the school were involved in most brawls.

He said police had been working with teachers and school staff
toward a joint approach for reducing the intensity of brawls.

"We're actually looking forward to organizing a meeting with
parents to let them know," he said. "They are ignorant about
whether their children are either endangered or dangerous.

"After questioning students, I invite their parents to come to
my office. But not all of them are informed about my invitation
and somebody else represents them instead."

As part of the precinct's preventive action, police officers
attend schools on Mondays to join the flag-hoisting ceremony.
Occasionally, police become the ceremony leader.

"Every day police patrol the streets at certain hours, before
and after school, and we also make a surreptitious inspection of
their belongings," he said.

He admitted that street brawling was a difficult issue to
handle because it was linked with other social problems. He
pointed to the economic level of those living in North Jakarta.

"Most of the students, who are detained for possessing sharp
weapons or caught in brawls, come from less fortunate families,"
he said. "How can I solve this problem alone?"

He said police had identified the danger spots and
plainclothes officers were patrolling these area.

The three black spots in North Jakarta are Jl. Perintis
Kemerdekaan, Jl. Cakung-Cilincing and the Plumpang bus stop on
Jl. Yos Sudarso.

This year, three students from privately run technical high
schools in North Jakarta have been killed during street brawls. A
total of nine students have been killed in Greater Jakarta.

The latest victim was Ade Rukmana, 17, a student from STM
Bahariwan technical school, who was attacked and fatally stabbed
in the chest in September.

Another STM Bahariwan student, 17-year-old Mujiono, was
stabbed in the chest while boarding a bus from school in August.

In the same month, Irwanto, 16, a student from STM Ristek in
East Jakarta, who lived on Jl. Kalibaru, was beaten to death on
Jl. Cakung-Cilincing in North Jakarta. (04)