The police urges public to oppose crooks
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The police urges public to oppose crooks
JAKARTA (JP): City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto assured Jakartans yesterday that security in the city is well under control despite the increase in the crime rate.
The two-star police general also urged the public to work shoulder to shoulder with the police to keep on guard against criminals.
Hindarto said the crime rate in Jakarta is still manageable and lashed out against the media's reports on crime, which he said creates a false image of the capital as a dangerous place to live.
"The crime rate increased by 1.75 percent last March from the previous month. It was quite an increase, which is rare. But security is still under control," Hindarto told reporters after holding a Friday service at a mosque in city police headquarters.
Asked about the results of the current anti-crime operation, Hindarto told The Jakarta Post the jury is still out.
"Preliminary examinations show the crime rate does not change," the general said, adding that the army-sponsored Cleansing Operation, which was commenced on March 11, is merely a solidarity gesture from the army to help the police combat crime.
City police usually do an operational review early in the month of the past months crime, so an official evaluation will have to wait.
In the first ten days, the operation itself captured nearly 500 criminals, seized five firearms, more than 100 sharp weapons and 40,000 bottles of spirits.
According to Hindarto, Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Hendroprijono understands that the police force lack the personnel to safeguard the capital and said that Operation Cleansing was launched to back the police up.
He said the city police have only around 4,000 patrolmen to deal with more than eight millions residents every day.
He denied the allegation that the operation is in violation of the Procedural Crime Code (KUHAP) on the grounds that there was at least one police officer involved in every raid during Operation Cleansing.
Of the 16,700 personnel deployed in the anti-crime operation, 10,000 are police officers.
"They do it on behalf of the police," Hindarto stressed.
Earlier the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), one of the leading non-governmental organizations critical of the government in this country, has attacked the army-sponsored operation, saying that it is merely a traditional tendency for the army to interfere with police business.
Calling the operation an arrogant act on the part of the military, spokesman of the foundation Hendardi said it would not make the police more professional in fulfilling their duties.
According to Hendardi, the operation also deviates from the existing Procedural Crime Code (KUHAP), which stipulates that an anti-crime action should honor civil rights and be performed by the police force.
Rumor
In a related development, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja called yesterday on the public to ignore rumors which, he said, were spread by irresponsible parties with the intention of destabilizing the city.
"I hope the rumor-mongers restrain themselves, prioritizing the public interests to their own," Surjadi was quoted by Antara as saying after a ceremony of welcoming the arbiters of the Parasamya Purnakarya Nugraha best province award.
Tuesday evening through Thursday, rumors spread throughout the city that racial riots had taken place across the city.
The army themselves has not captured anyone associated with the rumors.
"The rumors, which were further spread by the media reports and through the grapevine had troubled the public in their daily activities," said the governor. (09/jsk)