Police tell public to watch out for ax-wielding gang

Police tell public to watch out for ax-wielding gang

JAKARTA (JP): A senior city police officer admitted on
Thursday that the force was unable to provide round-the-clock
protection from street criminals, including gangs preying on
motorists carrying cellular phones.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said Jakartans
also needed to play a role through being on constant alert while
driving their cars or crossing the street.

"Due to the limited number of our personnel, it is impossible
for us to watch closely all areas and monitor suspected criminals
24 hours a day," he told The Jakarta Post at his office.

"So, we ask motorists and pedestrians to keep alert to the
possibility of crime on the city's streets, especially for the
newest types of crime."

Zainuri was asked to comment on the soaring public complaints
about violent street robberies focused on cellular phones.

Reports say the crime is usually carried out by a gang of at
least four people who wait at traffic lights. One of the robbers
is usually armed with an ax.

After spotting prospective victims, who are usually female
drivers, the robbers surround the car, banging on windows and
shouting for "hand phones".

First reports of the crime surfaced last week.

A Bekasi resident identified as Ronny S. told of his nightmare
encounter with an ax-wielding gang in a letter to Kompas daily on
Monday.

He said he was driving at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday last week when
four youths surrounded his car in Rawasari, East Jakarta.

They demanded he hand over his cell phone.

When Ronny resisted, one of the men pulled out an ax from a
bag and began hitting his car windshield. Ronny escaped the
attack by moving his car close to other vehicles, pushing the
horn and showing the men a car tool in his hand.

The previous day a similar crime occurred during heavy
afternoon traffic on Jl. S. Parman, near the Tomang intersection
in West Jakarta.

The victim, identified as Odi Sipul, was heading from Grogol
to Slipi when a group of seven men encircled his blue Toyota
Kijang van. One of them, brandishing an ax in his hand, shouted
for Odi's mobile phone.

A frightened Odi handed over his phone and drove on. A few
meters away, he saw police officers and informed them of the
crime.

Along with Odi, the officers rushed to the scene and found the
seven men at a bus stop in front of Mal Taman Anggrek, a shopping
mall, which is situated on the opposite side of the street from
the scene of the crime.

After firing warning shots into the air and with the help of
ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers, the officers caught four of the
men. The three others escaped, taking with them the ax and the
mobile phone.

In his letter to the daily, Ronny urged the Jakarta Police to
post plainclothes officers at crime spots.

Zainuri said the city police deployed plainclothes and
uniformed personnel at main intersections of the city's streets.

"But we're unable to deploy them 24 hours a day."

He reminded the public that there were 16,000 police personnel
to cover the greater Jakarta area, which has a population of
about 20 million.

"It's far below international standards which seek a police to
population ratio of 1:300," said Zainuri.

Criminologist Adrianus Meliala said the inadequate number of
police personnel should not be used as the justification for the
Jakarta Police to shirk their responsibility to maintain peace
and order in the community.

"The police must be able to place the right officers in the
right place, and at the right time," he said on Wednesday.

The lecturer from the University of Indonesia added the police
could deploy personnel either in plainclothes or in uniform at
crime spots.

Zainuri explained that the city police could only recruit an
average of between 100 and 200 new personnel annually due to the
limited funds allotted by the central government.

Adrianus said that people should not assume that other members
of the public would come to their assistance because residents of
major cities tended to put their own interests first.

"It is the police's job to help them," he said.

Dyan Shinto Ekopuri Nugroho, a bank employee who used to drive
alone home until late at night, agreed with Adrianus that it was
the police's responsibility to identify major crime spots and
deploy their personnel there.

"The police must be present in those areas, and pull back from
less crime-ridden areas for the most effective approach," she
said. (asa)