The streets of Jakarta

What do people really think of the streets of Jakarta? An odd question, perhaps. But opinions on this matter seem to depend on where one stands: Those who have been victims of street crimes say they're horrible. But the authorities on the other hand claim that the streets in this teeming city are relatively safe, compared, that is, to those in many other big cities in the world.

To underscore the victims' view we might, for example, recall the series of street crimes that have taken place quite recently in various parts of the city: On Thursday a housewife was shot in the stomach by one of four unidentified men who tried to rob her of her motorcycle in West Jakarta. The robbers escaped -- without the motorcycle.

Earlier, a student of a private university told his friends that four unknown men armed with axes had robbed him of his cellular phone while the Kijang van he was driving got caught in a traffic jam in South Jakarta. He never reported the case to the police.

Late in January, the wife of the secretary general of the Ministry of Finance was stabbed and killed when she tried to hold on to her handbag in an armed street robbery right in front of her residence in East Jakarta. The police, for a change, arrested the suspects only hours after the tragic incident occurred.

Those examples would seem to underline the citizens' claim that "there is no safe place in Jakarta". Police do seem to be making efforts to respond to the people's outcry, but they have yet to curb the street crimes, which reportedly have been growing in frequency, among other things due to the increase in unemployment.

The fact that the ratio between the number of police officers in Jakarta and the city's population -- which is one policeman for every 600 citizens -- is the classic, and reasonable, excuse for the police to explain their failure to deal with crimes promptly and properly. Jakarta now has only 2,300 police officers who are deployed on the streets and in other public places every day. The nationwide ratio, it can be said in passing, is even worse -- 1:861, which means that one police officer has to serve 861 people. The ideal ratio, according to United Nations estimates, is 1:300.

How indeed could 2,300 policemen cover all of Jakarta's five mayoralties with their tens of 100 trouble spots on record? Last January alone, 33 cases of street crime were reported to police and another 34 cases in February. Police efforts to deal with street crimes by using high-tech equipment should also be appreciated, despite the shortcomings.

The special Short Message Service (SMS) number 1281 and the hotline 112 could be cited as examples. Whenever we notice or hear about a crime being committed, we could just send an SMS message to the police or dial 112, even though a prompt response probably cannot be expected in such a one-way report. The police, after all, must double check the report with the nearest police station in the area where the crime is reported to have taken place. This takes time and is not very practical.

The best thing the police can do under those circumstances is to reconsider their efforts to maximize their performance within the limits of the number of personnel and funds. Early this month, while warning the public of the rising street crime rate, the police introduced a new method of categorizing crimes, just to enable them to deal with them.

Despite all the efforts, we all know that the bottom line is "the man behind the gun." High-tech equipment will mean nothing if the persons in charge are not qualified and are not professional. Good programs will be poorly implemented by people who are not professional. The new method of categorizing crimes would be meaningless if the police fail to act accordingly. Professionalism is therefore the key. To meet the public's demand that the streets of Jakarta be made safer, a breakthrough is needed.

Last year, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said that by the end of 2004, the ratio between police officers and the population will be brought to 1:750. To meet that objective, from 2003 onwards the police want 26,000 new recruits (annually).

In the meantime, while we wait for the police efforts to throw off some results, we can only increase our watchfulness on the streets and improve our neighborhood security systems. For now, all we can do is try to survive in the jungle of Jakarta's streets and keep in mind that walking or driving alone -- even in full daylight -- can be a hazard.