Troops deployed to help secure crime black spots
Troops deployed to help secure crime black spots
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Military Command began the
deployment of 500 of its soldiers to patrol 31 crime black spots
in the capital on Sunday to help the city police fight the
escalating trend in street crimes.
The command's spokesman, Lt. Col. D.J. Nachrowi, told
reporters that the troops would tour the black spots in the
city's five mayoralties 24 hours a day in trucks bearing PHH
Kodam Jaya (Jakarta Military Command's Riot Unit) signs.
"The deployment of the soldiers will be done as long as the
community needs it," Nachrowi said after attending a ceremony for
the call to readiness at the command's headquarters in East
Jakarta.
Armed with shotguns, the deployed soldiers are from the Army,
Navy and Air Force.
Nachrowi said that the troops, who are included in the City's
Security Network, are allowed to take stern actions against any
criminals or rioters in order to end lawlessness.
"The troops can shoot criminals who ignore warning shots and
continue with their criminal activities. But they will shoot to
disable them," he said, adding that the troops were ordered to
use only blanks and rubber bullets.
The troop deployment is led by City Military Police chief Col.
Hendardji S., assisted by Lt. Col. Agus Suharto, commander of
the 7th Cavalry Battalion in East Jakarta.
After the ceremony, one soldier showed reporters that he was
only carrying blanks and rubber bullets for his Steyr SS-1
shotgun.
"We check the magazines every day during the morning call,"
Hendardji remarked.
Tongam Tambunan, a senior executive of the city's public order
office, said last Thursday that the number of crime black spots
in the city had doubled from 31 in July to 60 last month, the
result of a growing sense of desperation among the segment of the
city's population that is living below the poverty line.
Because the city is faced with a shortage of security
personnel, the troops were deployed to safeguard only 31 crime
black spots around the city.
The city police detectives unit has also dispatched a team of
240 personnel, including plainclothes officers, to patrol various
black spots in the city, such as densely-populated and crime-
prone areas.
The unit's head, Col. Gories Mere, said that the police
operation was aimed at extortionists, pickpockets and robbers.
Nachrowi said that apart from the soldiers deployed in the
trucks, the Jakarta Military Command also dispatched motorcycle
patrol units of two soldiers each.
"They can reach the locations unreachable by trucks. They (the
motorcycle units) are stationed in each military district," he
said.
Temporary move
Meanwhile, a criminologist and sociologist commented that the
deployment of security personnel to beat the escalating street
crime at each of the crime black spots was unavoidable, but it
should be a temporary move until the situation returns to normal.
Contacted separately by The Jakarta Post on Sunday, Purnianti,
a criminologist, and Paulus Wirutomo, a sociologist, both from
the University of Indonesia, said that even though the deployment
was uncomfortable for most people, it was necessary to bring the
city under control.
"For the time being, because crimes are uncontrollable, such a
deployment is the best choice, even though it won't solve the
problem," Paulus said.
He said that the escalation in criminal activity could only be
stopped if the authorities could end the prolonged economic
crisis, which he says is the root of the escalation in crimes.
He also said that the deployment should be temporary, as
seeing security officers throughout the city was acceptable only
under abnormal conditions.
Paulus also said that the deployed officers should wear their
uniforms "as a kind of a show of force that they are still
strong, to frighten people from committing wrongdoings."
Both Paulus and Purnianti agree that this deployment was
necessary with the current chaotic environment.
As an example, they said that the Philippines government took
the same effort to handle a chaotic situation after the late
president Ferdinand Marcos resigned in February, 1986.
Months afterwards, public places like supermarkets and
shopping complexes were guarded by armed personnel, and everybody
entering or leaving the areas were checked.
Purnianti said, however, that the personnel's deployment was a
dilemma because it was needed, but on the other hand it caused an
uncomfortable atmosphere for the majority of people, because it
made it seem that the country was in a state of war.
Other kinds of strategies are needed, such as the activation
of regular patrols and raids to help return the city's security,
she said.
"It is time for the authorities to show that they are capable
of handling the chaotic situation," she said.
She also said that there should be a system of giving rewards
to areas which maintain their security, like what was implemented
for areas which successfully maintained their sanitary
conditions.
"Local authorities, like mayoralty administrations, should be
encouraged to improve the security system, and the system of
rewards is one of the alternatives," she said. (ivy/ind)