Robberies in Jakarta

Robberies in Jakarta

From Warta Kota

The electronic and print media have been repeatedly reporting the occurrence of bank robberies in Jakarta, in particular those involving large amounts of cash being carried by bank customers when leaving the bank.

From my observations, the police have not been able to deal with these bank robberies in a satisfactory manner. I even have the impression that the criminals are already aware of the police's weakness in this particular area so that they repeat a similar modus operandi in several other places within a reasonably short time.

Yes, I must admit that not all robberies are caused by the poor or weak performance of the police. I think the victims of such attacks also contribute to the problem. For example, when they need to carry large amounts of cash, they are reluctant to ask for police protection (do they not trust the police very much?) or they simply fail to avail of the bank's security facilities.

On the other hand, the bank security staff along with the police deployed to protect banks, have been doing their job well. For example, not long ago a policeman sacrificed his own life when he bravely took on a group of bank robbers. We have also heard of extraordinary performances by the police in some other criminal cases.

However, it would appear that these examples are the exception rather than the rule because, upon careful examination, we will see that, in general, the police have not yet been able to manage bank security professionally. There have been no plans and no systems or intensive campaigns relating to professional bank security through excellent patterns of public relations.

A good police performance will not only make the public feel safer and more comfortable but will also begin to restore public confidence in the police to the level where it was a few years ago, and in law enforcement, which up to now has been very poor.

DION PRASETYO

Jakarta