T

he Bali Police have moved the office of its tourist police department from their headquarters in downtown Denpasar to Kuta area in a bid to enhance security at the island’s favorite destinations.

“We are employing 15 officers who will work 24 hours a day on shifts. They speak fluent English, Japanese, Spanish and Mandarin,” Bali Police chief Insp. Gen Hadiatmoko said.

The office is located on Jl. Raya Kuta No 141.

“It is now ready to provide services, protection and information to visitors. Tourists should not hesitate to visit the office if they are facing security problems,” he said.

The choice of location was made to enable the police to overview the island’s major tourist sites in Kuta, Seminyak, Jimbaran and Nusa Dua, viewed as the most vulnerable areas to crime including terrorist threats.

“The Bali Police have placed security at tourist areas as priority. Tourism has been the island’s economic backbone,” Hadiatmoko added.

He recalled how the 2002 and 2005 bomb tragedies totally crippled the island’s tourist industry, tarnishing the image of Bali as a safe place for holiday makers.

“The tourist industry is rebounding now with an average of 8,000 visitors to the island every day,” he said.

The flood of domestic and foreign visitors, however, poses security challenges as the number of crimes affecting foreign citizens has increased over the last few years. “We have to tighten security on the island otherwise the tourism boom will boomerang if we cannot protect visitors from disturbances,” Hadiatmoko said.

From early 2010, the police have closely guarded Kuta and its surrounding area. Such measures decreased crimes against foreigners to almost 22.5 percent from 280 cases in 2009 to 217 cases in 2010.

The crimes targeted foreign nationals including those from Japan, the Netherlands, France and others.

Sr. Com Adhi S. Putra, director of Bali police’s vital object security department, added that around 82 foreigners also committed various crimes on Bali including drug trafficking.

Bali has become a transit haven for transnational crimes such as drug and human trafficking, art theft, money laundering and terrorism.

“Since the office first operated in December 2010, we have received 500 various criminal case reports filed by domestic and foreign tourists,” said Putra.

Perry Markus, secretary of the Bali branch of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association, said that tourist police services must improve to ensure visitors can enjoy a safe environment. “One challenge is the police’s limited language skills,” Markus said.

Sonoko Murakami, a Japanese national who has lived in Bali for one year in Nusa Dua area, said he felt safer now there was a tourist police office in Kuta.

“It is good to hear that the police can speak Japanese. Many Japanese holiday in Bali,” he said.

In 2010, Bali welcomed 2.49 million foreign visitors from Australia and Japan. In 2009, the number of tourist arrivals only reached 2.2 million.