The Bukit Barisan Military Command, which oversees the defense of North Sumatra and three neighboring provinces, deployed a special team last week to patrol Medan for violent robbers and members of motorcycle gangs. It has refused to disclose the number of personnel in the operation.

Bukit Barisan intelligence detachment commander Lt. Col. Jontra Gultom said on Saturday that the TNI was seeking to protect citizens from robberies in the city.

"We have deployed personnel to assist the Medan Police in hunting down robbers after Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution called on [the police to take stern action against the perpetrators]," Jontra said, as quoted by Kompas.com.

He added that the regional leadership communication forum (Forkopimda), consisting of representatives of key branches of local government, had also requested the patrols.

Medan has seen increasing reports of street and violent robberies in recent months.

In June, a street robbery led to the death of Insanul Anshori Hasibuan, a student at North Sumatra Muhammadiyah University, who died of machete injuries he sustained in the incident. He had been on his way to buy food.

The four robbers failed to steal Insanul’s motorcycle, and four men were arrested in conjunction with the crime a few days later.

Activist Al Araf of Imparsial said the TNI had no authority to police civilians. Its main duty was to ensure national defense.

“It is against the law if the military is involved in curbing street robberies,” Al Araf told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He noted that only the president, with the express support of the legislature, could order the military to carry out operations beyond its main area of duty. Otherwise, the action would be in violation of the 2004 TNI Law.

Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said the TNI’s involvement in policing in Medan could lead to the recurrence of the so-called “mysterious shootings” of alleged criminals in the 1980s. The state-backed summary killings were one of the 12 gross human rights violations acknowledged by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo earlier this year.

"The military’s involvement could result in the recurrence of serious human rights violations in the form of extrajudicial killings," Usman said.

Last week, Medan Mayor Bobby was criticized by activists for calling on the police to take strict action against street robbers and perpetrators of violent motorcycle theft, even if they had to be shot dead.

Bobby, who is President Jokowi’s son-in-law, applauded the Medan Police for shooting a robber dead last week in Deli Serdang after the man allegedly resisted arrest and tried to attack police officers.

They also shot four others in the leg in the same incident to immobilize them.

The five men, the police said, had been wanted for robbing a beauty salon in Medan a week before. The man the police killed had reportedly used an airsoft gun to threaten the salon’s employees.

Civil groups have noted that the TNI and National Police enjoy general impunity and are rarely held accountable for their actions.

According to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the police were responsible for some 30 extrajudicial killing incidents last year that resulted in at least 40 deaths, while TNI personnel were responsible for at least 60 violent incidents.

The October 2022 Kanjuruhan Stadium crush brought renewed attention to the police's excessive use of force, as the incident was precipitated by the unwarranted use of tear gas.