The city police should have a strong commitment to fairness in handling cases to prevent people from resorting to street justice, a criminologist said Saturday.

In the past few weeks, the police have been busy trying to solve a series of homicide and robbery cases that include the murders of a model, a director of a private company and a woman at a posh mall.

University of Indonesia criminologist Iqrak Sulhin said although the recent murders had different backgrounds and characteristics, they involved personal matters, like grudges or revenge.

“Hatred can trigger murder. A person not only can kill somebody they hate, but one can even order somebody else to do the execution,” he said.

“Some people choose the extreme way [of killing others] because of their dissatisfaction with the police’s performance in handling cases. There has been a lack of trust here.”

“They can file complaints with the police, but the endless bureaucracy might make them change their minds and choose a shorter way to end their problems,” he added.

“They should take every case seriously, or else people will opt to take justice into their own hands,” Iqrak warned.

“Take the example last February of a woman who was often beaten by her husband.

“She tried to report it to police, but she was upset because she did not find justice from them. So she hired someone to kill her husband.”

At the end of 2008, police reported the crime rate in the capital had dropped to 57,024 cases last year from 58,805 in 2007.

The number of crimes successfully resolved during this period increased by 17.41 percent, from 25,086 cases in 2007 to 29,454 this year.

Epi Vania, 34, a resident of Klender in East Jakarta, said she was concerned about crimes in the city.

“Of course I feel anxious about it, but all can I do is try not to draw bad people’s attention,” she said.

“For instance, I always avoid wearing jewelry or sexy dresses when I leave the house, especially when I take public transportation.”

She added she had learned from the experience of her neighbor, whose daughter was murdered by her boyfriend a few years back.

“She liked wearing jewelry wherever she went. It tempted her boy, who later had bad intentions and set a plot to murder her,” she said.

“After a couple of weeks, he finally turned himself in to the police.”

Vania added she also took precautions to avoid break-ins.

“Locking the doors is never enough. I always turn the TV and stereo up loud to give the impression that there’s someone home,” she said.

RECENT PROMINENT CASES

Case: Hanny A. Wahab, 53, model and owner of a modeling agency, is found dead at her home in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

• Status: Police arrest Hendi Lesmana, Hanny’s former housemaid, in Sukabumi, West Java. He confesses to feeling offended at Hanny because she often got angry at him.

Case: Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, 45, director of state-owned PT Putra Rajawali Banjaran, is gunned down after playing golf at Modernland Golf Course in Cikokol, Tangerang. An unidentified gunman on a motorcycle stops Nasrudin’s car and shoots him twice from close range.

• Status: Tangerang Police and Jakarta Police are still investigating the case.

Case: Maria Fransisca Bernadette Elen, 22, is found dead Tuesday evening in the emergency stairwell at the Pacific Place Mall in South Jakarta. Police find stabs wounds on the body of the PT Abott pharmaceutical company employee.

• Status: South Jakarta Police are still investigating the case.

Case: Tomi Dumadi, 64, manager of PT Fondasi in Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, is shot five times on his way to the bank. The gunman takes the company money, worth Rp 120 million (US$10,195). As of Sunday, Tomi is still in critical condition in hospital.

• Status: Police are still investigating the case.

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