Ridding the country of hoodlums takes time: Criminologists
Ridding the country of hoodlums takes time: Criminologists
JAKARTA (JP): Two leading criminologists said on Friday that
getting rid of hoodlums, especially in public places like bus
terminals and traditional markets, was impossible at the moment
as long as people had no respect for security officers.
Johannes Sutoyo and Muhammad Mustofa of the University of
Indonesia (UI) told The Jakarta Post and Kompas daily that it
would take a long time to free the country of hoodlums as the
problem was very complex.
The two made the remarks in response to the eruption of a
major clash at the Kampung Rambutan bus terminal in East Jakarta
on Wednesday evening, which was sparked by a quarrel between a
group of pickpockets and a bus crew. Two men died in the
incident.
Johannes, a lecturer on the post-graduate program of social
science, said that it was natural and had become a kind of
tradition that bus terminals were used as hoodlums' hangouts.
"The terminal doesn't merely function as a center of the
normal people's activities, but is also attractive for others
such as hoodlums to do business especially of the informal
variety.
"There therefore occurs a kind of 'cooperation' or 'modus
vivendi' among drivers, vendors, terminal authorities and
hoodlums. It has become a public secret that the hoodlums'
existence is backed by the local authorities so that they enjoy
mutual benefits," he said.
Mustofa also said that it was typical in Indonesia that
"hoodlums are the authority that 'governs' the informal sector in
the terminal compound. And in Indonesia the terminal has become a
place of origin of organized crimes."
Both Johannes and Mustofa said that the only way to eradicate
hoodlums was through strict law enforcement applied in stages,
starting especially with disciplining the delinquent authorities
and in the final analysis the hoodlums should not be given the
chance to operate again.
And to reach that stage we should start from the beginning
again, Johannes said.
"We should start from the bottom again, such as with the
reapplication of the terminal regulations on usage of space and
the upholding of discipline.
"And the local authorities and other related parties should
start to abide by the regulations and be consistent," he said.
Commenting on the unrest at the Kampung Rambutan bus terminal,
Governor Sutiyoso urged security officers on Thursday to totally
eliminate hoodlums at the city's terminals.
Mustofa said that the city administration and other related
institutions should start a new system in which they periodically
rotate officers assigned to be in charge of bus terminals,
including the terminal heads and security officers, to prevent
collusion with hoodlums.
"Officers who are given the chance to manage a certain area
for a long time tend to abuse the power," he said.
Mustofa, who is also a lecturer at the university, said that
for a long time people had been waiting for the application of
legal certainty, but the authorities failed to bring it about
because people had no clear information about those who were
arrested for crimes and whether they were really punished or not.
"What happened in Kampung Rambutan terminal was the result of
legal uncertainties. For instance many people have no interest in
reporting to the terminal authority if they are robbed because
the authority usually does not react immediately and seems not to
take the case seriously," he said.
According to him, it was time now to take stern action against
hoodlums because people are disgusted by their conduct.
Meanwhile, the situation at the Kampung Rambutan terminal had
returned to normal as could be seen from the long queues of
public transport vehicles at the terminal entrance.
Privately run bus company Mayasari Bakti's director Azis
Rismaya Mahpud said that more than 100 out of the company's 500
buses were in operation.
"None of them is guarded by soldiers any longer," he told the
Post. On Thursday every bus departing from the terminal was
secured by four soldiers in anticipation of possible attacks by
the hoodlums.
Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman said that
soldiers and police officers have been withdrawn from guard duty
on public buses as he believed that the drivers and their crews
could themselves anticipate assaults.
Noegroho also said that police had questioned eight people
believed to have been involved in the dispute which triggered the
clashes in the bus terminal.
However, he declined to comment when asked about speculation
that security officers backed the operation of the pickpockets at
the terminal.
"If there are any of the public who know about these alleged
aiders and abettors, they should just tell me," he said.
(ind/emf)