T

he capital saw a decline in the number of serious crimes and public order disruptions during this year'€™s Idul Fitri holiday season compared to last year, according to data from the Jakarta Police.

The police said major incidents dropped by up to 38 percent during its annual 16-day Operation Ketupat, with this year'€™s total figure standing at 126 cases, down from last year'€™s 203. '€œIn general, the number of nearly all forms of serious criminal offenses reported by the public have declined,'€ Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian told reporters on Monday at his office.

During the security operation, conducted from July 10 to 25, the Jakarta Police recorded a number of serious crimes and major incidents, ranging from a bomb explosion, aggravated theft, robbery with violence to motorcycle thefts, fires and gang fights.

Among the various crimes, the number of cases of robbery with violence experienced the steepest decline '€” 71 percent, with only four cases recorded this year, down from 41 in the previous year.

Incidents of motorcycle theft, aggravated theft and fires also declined by 51 percent, 38 percent and 20 percent respectively, according to the Jakarta Police'€™s data. '€œAmong the fires were those that recently took place at PT Mandom and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which were quite prominent,'€ Tito said.

On July 10, a fire engulfed a cosmetics factory belonging to PT Mandom Indonesia in an industrial area in Bekasi in West Java, killing 17 workers. Meanwhile, on July 5, a fire broke out in a lounge at Soekarno-Hatta Airport'€™s Terminal 2E, resulting in delays to dozens of domestic and international flights.

The police recorded one bomb explosion, while no such cases took place during last year'€™s security operation, which was conducted from July 22 to Aug. 6, 2014.

'€œThis was the incident reported recently at Alam Sutera mall,'€ Tito said. On July 10, an explosion caused by a homemade bomb took place at the shopping mall in South Tangerang. No casualties were reported in the incident.

The Jakarta Police also recorded six instances of gang fights during this year'€™s security operation, unlike in the previous year when no such incidents took place.

Tito said that the fights mostly occurred in areas of high social deprivation. '€œThey usually took place in the city'€™s slum areas,'€ he said, adding that as such places were densely populated and had a great deal of social interaction, the potential for social conflict was greater. '€œThese areas can be very tense,'€ he said.

Tito hoped the city administration would improve conditions in such areas. '€œIt could be in the form of vertical housing. As such, their social life would be more orderly,'€ he said.

According to data from the Jakarta Police, Central Jakarta saw the steepest decline '€” 49 percent '€” in the number of serious incidents, with 43 cases recorded, down from last year'€™s 84.

The least decline was recorded in North Jakarta, where 62 serious incidents took place in 2015, compared with 70 in the previous year.

During the annual Idul Fitri holiday season, the Jakarta Police launch Operation Ketupat, aimed at maintaining security and order throughout the city, deploying over 40,000 personnel. (alm)