Street robbery rate up during election campaign
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.