Street robbery rate up during election campaign

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The level of robberies and burglaries in Greater Jakarta has increased by 40 percent in the period to March 26, since legislative campaigning kicked off on March 11, compared with the same period last month.

Of 45 crimes reported, 31 were street robberies while the rest were burglaries.

The figure was lower than in February when 25 street robberies and seven burglaries occurred. The number was slightly lower than January's 25 street robberies and nine burglaries.

The greatest number of street robberies targeted motorcyclists, who were usually cornered by criminals pointing a gun at them before they stole their vehicle.

A police report also shows that Tambora district, West Jakarta, and Cakung district, East Jakarta, are hotbeds for street crime.

Criminologist Adrianus Meliala of the University of Indonesia told The Jakarta Post over the weekend that it was possible that the increase in crime rates was related to campaigning.

"Changes in people's daily activities indeed affect crime patterns. It is possible that campaigning has also contributed to the crime rate increase," he said.

Citing an example, Adrianus said that robbery and burglary in the capital accounted for 80 percent of all crime during the Idul Fitri holiday every year. That figure was slightly higher compared with other times when robbery and burglary constituted 70 percent of crime.

During the Idul Fitri holiday, Jakarta is deserted, as many city dwellers travel back to their hometowns to celebrate the holiday with their families.

"A lot of factors affect crime patterns. I think campaigning alone has not contributed significantly to the hike," Adrianus said.

He dismissed the fact that the Jakarta Police are focused on providing security for the campaigns of 24 political parties.

His statement was substantiated by city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo, who said that officers were still patrolling in neighborhoods, even though a majority of the force was deployed on campaign-related activities and the legislative election, scheduled for April 5.

"It's true that police officers are concentrating on securing the campaign and the election. But that doesn't mean that we've reduced the number of officers patrolling in neighborhoods," he said.

About 4,000 officers have been deployed to secure the capital during campaigning. This will rise to 16,000 on election day.

Prasetyo reminded the public to be on the alert in their neighborhoods.

The police report also shows a jump in the number of robberies on public transportation to six from last month's two. It also indicates that burglaries, in which criminals pretend to make a social visit to a house before stealing items from it, have been rife.