T

he Jakarta Police say that in the 30-day period around the start of Ramadhan crime rates increased by 9 percent.

Jakarta Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Suhardi Alius said here on Thursday that the trend reversed the ongoing one of the previous two months, during which the city saw a decrease in crime rates. Suhardi did not reveal the figures.

“We are going to conduct tighter monitoring of security in Jakarta,” Suhardi said.

“We are going to launch the Ketupat Jaya [annual operation to secure homeward-bound travelers] on Aug. 22.

“Despite the relatively secure situation in Jakarta, we will not lower our guard. Instead, we are going to be more alert and anticipate any possible crimes during Ramadhan,” he added.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo also said on Thursday that residents had to assist the police to prevent crime during the holy month by conducting their own patrols in their respective neighborhoods.

Previously, the Jakarta Police had said that around 18,000 officers would be deployed as part of the Ketupat Jaya operation to secure the city and around 7 million homeward-bound travelers on their way to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri, a festivity traditionally held at the end of Ramadhan.

Jakarta Police operations chief Sr. Comr. Sujarno said the officers would be deployed between Aug. 23 and Sept. 7, along with members of the Indonesian Military, public order officers, firefighters and representatives from the City Health Agency and the City Transportation Agency.

Sujarno said that the Public Order Agency would deploy 1,500 officers and the Fire Department had prepared 800 firefighters along with 157 fire engines.

The officers and officials would be deployed at 128 hot spots throughout the city including bus terminals, train stations and airports to guard the travelers and to prevent street crimes.

The Jakarta Police had previously intensified street patrols in a program called the Kilat Jaya operation to arrest street criminals and to reduce the crime rate during Ramadhan, a time when crime rates in the city normally increase.

The police deployed an additional 920 officers for the operation that lasted from Aug. 2 to Aug. 14. In the first few days of the operation, police arrested hundreds of street criminals and thugs. Most of them are believed to be involved in violent robberies and theft.

In total, the police secured 836 street criminals during the Kilat Jaya operation. As many as 304 of them were detained, while the rest were being put into the police social development programs.

The police also managed to solve 46 cases during the operation.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Baharudin Djafar said the trend from the latest operation showed that most criminals conducted robberies and this called for a special operation to be conducted to prevent such crimes.

“We are still waiting for the blueprint for the special operation,” Baharudin said.

Baharudin said that the Jakarta Police was still evaluating the needs of each jurisdiction within the city before launching the special operation.

“Every jurisdiction has different needs,” he said.