Seaport police strive to maintain law and order
Seaport police strive to maintain law and order
By K. Basrie
JAKARTA (JP): Violent robberies, smuggling, prostitution and vehicle theft are among the crimes recorded by the Tanjung Priok Seaport Police, known locally as KP3, during the past few years.
KP3's most important task is to safeguard the flow of goods being imported and exported through Indonesia's largest seaport.
Although this police unit has recorded significant successes in minimizing the number of crimes committed, currently estimated to be between two and 12 cases per month, it continues to be hindered in its work by a lack of resources.
Unlike seaport police in most big cities overseas, KP3, which also supervises five other Jakarta seaports, does not have a single speedboat with which to patrol the waters for which it is responsible.
Despite the lack of such standard equipment, KP3's senior officers are determined to further reduce the number of crimes in their supervision area by, for instance, improving the skills of their personnel.
"It's one of our most important tasks in securing the flow of goods, livestock and people passing into and out of this area," KP3's deputy chief, Maj. Oegro Seno, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
Although it is named after the Tanjung Priok seaport, KP3 is also assigned to supervise Jakarta's Marunda, Kampung Baru, Sunda Kelapa, Muara Baru and Muara Angke seaports.
The "territory" of the 295 KP3 officers covers both the seaports themselves and an area extending two nautical miles out to sea from the seaports.
According to a KP3 senior detective, First Lieutenant Heru Wiyono, the theft cases most commonly recorded at the seaport involve shipping vessel spare parts and tools.
"They always operate at night in groups, climbing up into anchored vessels using ropes," said Heru.
In many cases it transpires that the thieves are former seamen who are very familiar with the craft and their spare parts, Oegro said.
Raft capsules, which cost about Rp 8 million (US$3,597) each, are sold by the thieves for about Rp 800,000 on the black market, Heru said.
With the cooperation of the local customs officers, the Tanjung Priok seaport police have managed to foil a number of schemes to smuggle goods such as rattan, gold bars, luxury cars, guns and logs.
Although the crime rate has decreased markedly, Oegro said that his personnel were under orders to take immediate action against any suspicious objects or people in the seaport.
"Up to today, we have yet to record a single smuggling case this year," said Heru.
One of the biggest challenges with which the officers of KP3 will be faced in the future is the new approval system for export and import documents, to be introduced following the construction of the harbor ring road, which is scheduled to be completed within the next few years.
When the ring road is operational, goods being transported into or out of the Tanjung Priok port will no longer be inspected by custom officers and police.
"I wonder who will be in charge of investigating a smuggling case if it takes place outside the seaport?" asked Heru.
The modus operandi of prostitutes found by the KP3 is somewhat different to that of their counterparts on land.
Early this month, KP3 detectives arrested dozens of "water prostitutes" who had allegedly been offering their services to the crews of several foreign and local vessels anchored in the port.
The prostitutes, all in their 30s, rented small boats in the evening hours and moved from vessel to vessel in search of business.
"The hookers don't have a fixed price; it depends on the customers," Heru said. "Sometimes, they get US$100 from a customer."
Most of the prostitutes arrested have been identified as "senior" prostitutes from the notorious Kramat Tunggak red-light district in North Jakarta, only a few kilometers from the seaport.
According to KP3 officers, the prostitutes claimed that they had left the complex because of tough competition from newcomers, who were younger and more beautiful.
"All of them operate on their own, without the help of 'backers' or 'coordinators'," Oegro said. (bsr)