Police, taxi firms boost security as thefts rise

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The police are enhancing cooperation with city taxi companies and have instructed officers to pay more attention to cabs following an increase in taxi robberies.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said on Sunday that his office would cooperate with every taxi company in the capital to prevent robberies.

"Each subprecinct will coordinate with each taxi pool in its area. We hope we will be able to deter robbery in the future as well as quickly arrest robbers, especially since we will have access to all the data on the taxis and the drivers from the taxi companies," he said.

Tjiptono said the police had provided training on security prevention measures to many taxi drivers.

He said that all patrol units had been ordered to pay special attention to taxis, drivers and passengers, especially female passengers.

The number of taxi robberies, including those involving drivers, have increased in the past several months.

The latest reported victim was Ellaide Rumiaty Tampubolon, 37, a resident of Jl. Bangka in Mampang, South Jakarta. In her police report, she said she was robbed by four people inside a Blue Bird taxi at about 11:45 p.m. last Monday.

Ellaide said the robbers assaulted her and made off with Rp 5,074,000 in cash, some of which she was forced to withdraw from an ATM, US$100, a watch, a necklace and a Nokia 6690 cellular phone.

Early this month, Asyas Tasya Mustika, 28, a pregnant mother who lives in Tanjung Barat, South Jakarta, was also robbed in a taxi. She was robbed at night by three people on Jl. Fatmawati, South Jakarta, on her way home from Blok M, South Jakarta.

The robbers, who apparently cooperated with the taxi driver, took Rp 6 million, a necklace, a ring and a cellular phone.

Uduryna, 27, a resident of Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta, was robbed in a Simpati taxi on Jl. Sisingamangaraja, South Jakarta, while on her way home.

"In most of the cases, the taxi drivers must have cooperated with the robbers as it is impossible that they just stopped and let the robbers get into the taxis," Tjiptono said.

Blue Bird spokesman Riva Lazuardi said the company had enhanced security for passengers by screening drivers tightly in the recruitment process as well as monitoring cabs and drivers who pick up passengers on the street.

"We have a system that automatically registers each driver and cab when they exit or enter a pool. Some of the taxis have GPS equipment that enabled us to monitor their whereabouts," he told the Post.

Riva said that each of the drivers, who must be recommended by another driver, went through several phases of training before being allowed to drive a taxi.

Each driver was encouraged to monitor their colleagues and was rewarded for an accurate report, he said.