Yusril Urges West Java Police to Boost Patrols Amid 'Begal' Bounty Controversy

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, has requested the West Java Regional Police to increase patrols in response to the controversy surrounding a bounty programme for catching street robbers, or ‘begal’, proposed by West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi. “I am asking the National Police, particularly the West Java Regional Police, to enhance security patrols, especially in areas suspected of having high rates of robbery that cause fear among the public,” Yusril said in a statement on Sunday, 26 July 2026. He argued that increased patrols are crucial to provide a sense of safety to the community while fulfilling the police’s function of maintaining public security and order, protecting citizens, and enforcing the law. In addition to requesting heightened patrols, Yusril also urged the police to strengthen public education on measures to prevent robbery and the proper procedures for reporting suspected criminal acts to law enforcement. He said the public must be encouraged to participate in maintaining neighbourhood security, but within legal boundaries. “This way, the public will not be driven to take the law into their own hands. Maintaining security is a shared responsibility, but law enforcement must be carried out by the authorities,” he said. He also emphasised that the state is obliged to provide protection to every citizen. Victims of robbery, he said, must receive protection for their lives and property as part of the human rights guaranteed by the constitution. However, even perpetrators of criminal acts have the right to be processed through the applicable legal mechanisms. “They must be captured alive, tried fairly, and given a proportionate sentence by the court. They must not be beaten to death by a mob beyond the bounds of humanity. Such acts are also human rights violations that must be prevented,” he stated. Furthermore, responding to the idea of giving rewards to those who catch robbers if the perpetrators are proven guilty, Yusril assessed that its implementation is not as simple as imagined. He noted that proving a person guilty of a crime is the authority of the court, not the public or law enforcement officers. The legal process takes a relatively long time because it must await a final and binding court decision. “It is possible that the captor will be disappointed because the promised reward is not given immediately, as they must wait for a legally binding court decision, even up to the Supreme Court,” he said.