Will vigilantism change the police?
Will vigilantism change the police?
By Multa Fidrus
TANGERANG (JP): Angry residents in Tangerang have mobbed at
least 42 people to death during the last nine months, while
police turn a blind eye as they regard it an effective way to
curb crime.
Jaelani, a morgue assistant at Tangerang General Hospital told
The Jakarta Post that from January to early September this year,
the hospital morgue had received the bodies of 42 criminal
suspects delivered by 15 police subprecincts. Some 12 out of the
42 corpses could not be identified due to serious burns.
He said that last year there were no corpses of vigilante
victims delivered to the hospital.
According to Jaelani, Curug subdistrict was the area with the
most active vigilantism with eight criminals having been mobbed
to death, followed by Cipondoh and Batu Ceper subdistricts with
six cases respectively.
"We're sick of criminals who do not hesitate to hurt their
victims. Moreover, the criminals are usually lazy individuals who
just want to enjoy their lives without working hard," Agus
Mulyadi, a plant vendor who joined in beating up two criminals
last month.
"We can no longer trust the police to settle these cases,"
Agus added.
Since the vigilantes are regarded as effective at curbing
crime, police seem to have turned a blind eye and appear to
applaud the bravery of residents who kill criminals.
Tangerang Police chief Adj. Comr. Affan Richwanto admitted
that, as of September this year, none of those who had provoked a
mobbing incident had been held since the police tolerate the
actions of vigilantes in a bid to curb crime.
Affan denied that the police were afraid of dealing with angry
mobs. But, he said if police arrest any suspects who have
provoked vigilantes, angry locals will attack police headquarters
and demand they be released.
"We regret the action of residents who take the law into their
own hands. But such vigilantes bring positive results to our
crime-busting efforts. Unlike in the past, residents are now
becoming braver at facing criminals," he told the Post in an
interview.
"If you were a police officer, what would you do if you found
an angry mob beating up a criminal?," he asked.
When asked whether the vigilantes are a result of the fact
that people no longer trust the police, he said, "If you claim
people have lost trust in the police, why are residents of Bumi
Serpong Damai housing complex, Cikupa and Teluk Naga willing to
build police stations in their areas," he said.
"Anger and a lack of legal awareness have prompted people to
kill criminal suspects on site," he said, adding that usually
motorcycle thefts, robberies or burglaries encouraged people to
mob criminals to death.
He admitted that vigilantes were unable to eradicate these
kinds of crime. "As long as the country's economy is depressed,
then there will always be criminals," he said.
But he noted the important role of public and religious
figures in preventing vigilantism. "As people still respect them,
they are effective in keeping people from taking the law into
their own hands," he said.
People here are still willing to listen to public figures. But
the problem is that public figures are not able to monitor the
vigilantes on site as very often they operate far from housing
complexes, he said.
Criminologist Erlangga Masdiana of the University of Indonesia
said police should not just wash their hands of street justices.
He noted that in the long run, they will have to reform the
police.
"There must be political will from top executives within the
police to reform its institutional structure and culture right to
the lowest level," he said.
Erlangga also said that in the next ten years, it would be
better if the chief of the National Police was a civilian, so
that they could be considered credible, independent and complete
reform could be materialized.