Residents feel safe again after thuggery crackdown
Written by Meenaa on Monday, November 17th, 2008
Residents feel safe again after thuggery crackdown
Public transportation drivers, street vendors, traditional market traders and commuters in Tangerang are among those feeling peace returning to their areas following a series of police raids on thugs.
“I hope the police confine them for good,” said a food vendor who witnessed a police raid at Poris Plawad bus terminal recently.
Most vendors said they felt powerless against hoodlums, who rarely hesitate to use violence when they don’t get what they want.
“I have had enough of them,” said a public minivan driver in Cimone who requested anonymity, adding that the thugs always asked for “security” money.
So far Tangerang Police have arrested 659 men for petty street crimes, with 337 of them netted in Tangerang regency, 272 in Tangerang municipality, while the remaining 50 were arrested at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
“Most of those who were arrested in public places were caught red-handed either gambling, drinking liquor, extorting money, carrying sharp weapons or failing to show proper identity cards,” Tangerang Police chief Sr. Comr. Agus Andrianto said Friday.
He said the police would take some of the suspects with weapons to court, adding that they had freed several others after giving them stern warnings.
Gondrong, one of those arrested for carrying a sharp weapon, promised to stop extorting money from minivan drivers, adding that he carried a sharp weapon only to bluff drivers who refused to pay up.
“Officers are right and extorting money is wrong. If I’m freed later, I will find a job and will no longer cause any trouble,” he said.
Comr. Deddy Kurniawan, the officer in charge of the operation at Tangerang Police, said the police needed to take stern action against thugs so that the public were encouraged to report any crimes they encountered.
Nonetheless, the police action against thuggery is not without its critics.
Bambang Jatmiko, one of the freed detainees said the police had mostly arrested the wrong men.
“I am not a hoodlum. I’ve never caused unrest,” he said, adding that he and several other detainees were just a group of men who earned money as street musicians.
Multa Fidrus , The Jakarta Post , Tangerang | Sat, 11/15/2008 10:57 AM | City
