The streets of Jakarta

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.