The police urges public to oppose crooks
The police urges public to oppose crooks
JP/3/POLICE/set lead 3 cols 10 pts/crosshead 12 MB
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)