Withdrawing cash? Ask for police for help

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Police are recommending that bank customers who withdraw a large amount of money avail of a free police escort service in an effort to curb rampant robbery attempts.

"It's better for customers to first contact the police for an escort before they withdraw money," said Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Prasetyo over the weekend. "As far as I know, the police never refuse to assist the public. Moreover, the service is free of charge."

Customers requesting police assistance, have to notify the police in advance because the number of officers is limited.

He also reminded the public to use the police hotline 112 in emergencies.

Robberies, sometimes violent, of bank customers have been on the rise. In early February, four unidentified men robbed a Frenchman Paul Quinn who had just withdrawn Rp 140 million (US$16,500) from a bank in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta. One of the robbers even shot at Quinn but the bullet went through the driver's window and lodged in the dashboard. The robbers are still at large.

Two bank robbers, Suparjo and Jumadhi, arrested by police in January, admitted that they had observed all customers coming out of banks. They would identify who had just withdrawn a large amount of money and later followed them.

The two suspects had watched Yani Ladhi coming out of a bank on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta, carrying a large brown envelope. They later followed Ladhi's car and waited before she got out of the vehicle. Later, they broke into Ladhi's parked car and fled with Rp 9 million inside a brown enveloped she had kept under the driver's seat.

An officer with a state-owned bank, who requested anonymity, told The Jakarta Post that security outside bank branches was not the responsibility of the bank.

"We are responsible for security inside the bank, we have several guards inside and in the parking lots," the officer said. "The guards in parking areas are always on the lookout for any suspicious people around the compound."

Therefore, he advised bank customers to use the online service when they wanted to transfer money.

"Banks now have advanced technology to transfer money in a more practical, faster and safer way ," he said. "It won't take much effort to transfer salaries to your employees. Sometimes, I wonder why customers are still willing to take the risk of withdrawing cash, whereas it's much safer to transfer through the online system."