Crime figures in Jakarta dropped slightly this year, from 58,805 cases last year to 57,024 now, with incidents of gambling and murder on the rise, an annual police report revealed Tuesday.

The report covered 70 types of crimes in Jakarta, Bekasi, Tangerang and Depok.

Car theft remains top of the list, accounting for 34.7 percent of total crimes. It also topped the list last year with 33.7 percent.

Gambling cases increased by almost 50 percent, from 685 to 1,007, and homicides by 16 percent, from 67 murders to 78.

The three crimes that saw significant decreases were juvenile delinquency, down 33 percent from last year’s 15 cases to 10; violent robbery, down 30 percent, from 1,721 cases to 1,202; and rape, which dropped 18 percent, from 139 to 114.

The number of crimes successfully solved this year jumped by 17.41 percent, from 25,086 cases in 2007 to 29,454 this year. However, that still left 27,570 cases unsolved.

“One of the obstacles (we face) in solving crimes is our lack of technology. Crimes are becoming increasingly sophisticated, while our resources are still limited,” Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Wahyono said.

The police intensified raids on gambling, prostitution and thuggery in Jakarta throughout 2008.

This led to the closure of 773 gambling cases and 16 human trafficking and prostitution cases, and the arrests of 13,113 petty criminals.

However, only 1,363 of them were sent to jail. The most prominent homicides in 2008 involved mutilations, with only three out of seven cases resolved. One of these was the media-hyped serial mutilation murders by Verry Idham Henyansyah, also known as Ryan.

In 2008, the Jakarta Police recorded 5,965 traffic accidents, with 1,080 fatalities, 2,443 severe casualties and 4,029 minor casualties.

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