Security system by, for the people
Security system by, for the people
By K. Basrie
JAKARTA (JP): It's midnight of May 31 at a two by two meter structure. That night three residents were assigned by the head of the neighborhood to guard their "zone" where around 80 families live.
The neighborhood, called RT IV area, is part of the Bumi Kelapa Dua housing complex in Curug, Tangerang, less than five kilometers from the Lippo Karawaci mega project.
Each armed with a knife, iron bar and wooden stick, the three citizens on patrol, locally known as Siskamling personnel, started to carry out their social obligation. Normally, hot coffee and snacks is taken with them on their rounds to help keep them awake.
The security shack, built with funds donated by members of the neighborhood, is located at a point which enables the on-duty civilians to easily monitor any strangers approaching their zone.
Each take turns to patrol the neighborhood and hit lampposts with the small iron stick they carry every hour to announce to residents that all is well.
This particular night, the on-duty civilians each came from different professions: a physician, a worker of a private firm and a reporter (The Jakarta Post). We were all next door neighbors.
At 3:00 a.m., the physician began to fall asleep and took a brief nap on the small hut's cement floor which he covered with papers. An hour later, I did my last turn patrolling the neighborhood before lying down at the front door of the security shack.
Hoping to starve off heavy drowsiness, the other partner started conversing with me before we returned to our houses precisely at 4 a.m., after five hours of night patrols.
The head of each family in the neighborhood is required to go on security duty three times a month.
The RT IV neighborhood in Tangerang is a typical example of local residents, irrespective of social status, being asked to jointly see to the security of their own area.
Methods might be different in other neighborhoods in Greater Jakarta, depending on many reasons, such as the average social position of the residents and the location of the area.
Unlike many neighborhoods on the city's outskirts, a wide number of areas in Jakarta have hired two or three people to replace the family head's turn to secure their neighborhoods.
Police, who held a nationwide parade of heads of Siskamling yesterday, revealed that the neighborhood security system carried out by local residents is important in helping to maintain the country's strong national stability.
"They are very important for us to keep the city secure," City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo told reporters after leading the Siskamling parade in North Jakarta yesterday.
"Whether hiring other people or using local residents, it doesn't make any difference as long as all of the neighbors agree," City Police spokesman Lt. Col. Bambang Harmoko said.
Moreover, he said, Jakarta is a metropolitan city where many of its residents spend much of their time working. Problems usually occur when people of mixed social standing and educational backgrounds reside in one neighborhood.
"It's nonsense if a businessman or an officer, for instance, has to go on night patrols when they have to go to work early the next morning," said the head of a neighborhood in South Jakarta.
City police spokesman Bambang added: "It would be more logical if we could hire people to safeguard our village rather than to force residents who have more important things to do."
But all residents have to have a sense of belonging and responsibility in their area. "So, hiring watchmen doesn't mean that we have nothing more to do with our area," said the spokesman after the parade.
Similar Siskamling parades were also held in all parts of Greater Jakarta as well as all cities throughout the country.
In his written speech, National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro hailed the positive role of the Siskamling personnel.
Banurusman, however, also spoke about the negative side of globalization which might lead to a significant increase in the number and sophistication of crimes.