T

he Jakarta Police are beefing up measures against motorcycle gangs after receiving reports of several crimes in the past month involving brutal assaults by gang members.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto told reporters recently that police will increase patrols in areas notorious as hangout spots for motorcycle gangs, such as Jl. Benyamin Sueb in North Jakarta and Lenteng Agung in South Jakarta.

'€œThese days, many gang members always bring sharp weapons with them because they either feel like they have to protect their territory from other gangs, or in case they wish to rob someone,'€ he said at the Jakarta Police headquarters in South Jakarta.

On Monday, two teenagers who were part of a motorcycle gang in Cilincing, North Jakarta, were arrested for allegedly killing a 17-year-old boy named Samu'€™un so that they could steal his motorcycle.

Local media reported that the two teenagers and another, who had yet to be arrested, brutally killed Samu'€™un by chocking him with a motorcycle chain.

In East Jakarta, a military officer was stabbed in the neck by another teenage motorcycle gang member last week for accidentally bumping into his motorcycle. Nine other gang members also beat the officer who was then immediately taken to the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital (RSPAD) in Central Jakarta for intensive care.

Rikwanto said that these were only a few of the crimes the Jakarta Police handled that involved motorcycle gangs. What was even more unfortunate, he said, was that most of the gang members were still young.

'€œFrom all our cases, a majority of the gang members we arrested were aged between 15 and 19,'€
he said.

Rikwanto said that the young men were often pushed to join motorcycle gangs because they wanted to be considered cool. However, most of them did not have enough money to buy their own motorcycles and would violently rob other people of their motorcycles out of desperation, he said.

The Jakarta Traffic Police would also conduct raids on motorcyclists hanging out in areas known
for gangs in order to check whether they had a driver'€™s licenses and vehicle licenses for their motorcycles.

'€œWe might find stolen motorcycles during these raids. Furthermore, the traffic police officers would also check their belongings to see if they were carrying any dangerous weapons,'€ Rikwanto said.

In addition, police officers who are tasked to reach out to residents about security and safety had
also been ordered to conduct guidance sessions for youngsters on how to create a more positive environment.

'€œHopefully, with some effort we can teach our youth not to make friends with people involved in gangs who encourage violence and robbery,'€ he said.