Public, private places required to install CCTV
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As part of an effort to improve security in the capital, Jakarta Police revealed on Tuesday that all hotels, malls, apartment complexes and office buildings are now required to install closed circuit television (CCTV) systems, whose recordings can be used by the police in their investigations.
City police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said the directive has been circulated on Nov. 30.
"We have asked building operators to meet with us to obtain information on the regulation. We will train them how to install CCTV, where to put the cameras and what to do once the commission of a crime is caught on camera," he said.
Jakarta Police Directive No. 2/2005 stipulates that hotels, apartments, malls, shopping centers, office buildings, and other facilities, including banks and international and/or foreign- owned facilities, in areas within the Jakarta Police's jurisdiction, must have CCTV.
Tangerang regency, Depok and Bekasi all come within the Jakarta Police jurisdiction.
Individual building owners will be required to show the installed CCTVs by appointment to the police so as to ensure compliance, Firman said.
Article 6 of the directive stipulates that any building operators that fail to install CCTV will be announced in the media, and the operators will receive punishments ranging from fines, revocation of operating permits and even imprisonment.
The owners and operators of buildings must also hand over CCTV recordings if a crime takes place in their buildings.
Failure to hand over the CCTV recordings will be punishable by up to four months imprisonment.
Jakarta has been rocked by a series of bomb attack since 2000.
Firman said that recent experiences showed how CCTV recordings could help police identify the perpetrators of terrorist attacks and bank robberies.
The perpetrators of the bombing outside the Australian Embassy, for instance, were tracked down after police examined a CCTV recording from the embassy and several other buildings in the area.
Firman said CCTV would be integrated into the police surveillance network, which also includes the global positioning system (GPS), panic button system, short message service (SMS) and radio telecommunications.
Currently, the city police have 50 CCTV cameras installed on a number of streets and in some buildings across the capital.
"We will ask the Jakarta administration to install more CCTV cameras, including at bus and railway stations, as well as around the airport," Firman said.