Jakarta – The first things that came into Sri Warini's mind when she found her house had been robbed were that she must call the police and make a list of all the items that had been stolen.
The burglar stole many belongings from her house in Rawasari, Central Jakarta, including jewelry, two TV sets, and a personal computer central processing unit.
"My friends told me that if I didn't give the police some money, they would never follow up on the case, so I gave the officer Rp 300,000 [US$33]," Sri told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
The police officer responded by promising that she and her husband could call at any time to find out if there had been any developments in their search for the perpetrators.
Sri's husband, Mulyadi, went down to the police station once a week for the first few weeks, only to be told on each occasion that there had been no developments at all.
Weeks went by with no developments, and finally the couple gave up hope of recovering their stolen possessions. "The police never even called us, not even to say that they were still trying to track down the burglar," she said.
The robbery occurred around eight years ago. Sri, now 61, lives in Yogyakarta with her husband. The case remains unsolved.
Cases like Sri's are a dime a dozen in the capital, with the result that many residents have become apathetic about the police's ability to help them recover stolen belongings. "Asking a local witch doctor [dukun] for help would be far more effective than asking a police officer if you get robbed," said Albert Aritonang, a 27-year-old doctor currently residing in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.
Albert owns a boarding house and an Internet cafe in Salemba, Central Jakarta. In a span of one week in 2010, two motorcycles were stolen from his cafe.
"I reported both thefts, and there was never any follow up. Upon my second report, the police officers said that they would provide extra protection for my premises if I gave them 'some money for coffee'," he said.
He rejected the offer because he recognized it as bribery. "I pay my taxes to pay for their salary. They are obliged to serve me for no extra cost at all," he said.
Afterward, he installed a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system to monitor his boarding house and internet cafe, because he no longer believed that the police would provide him with security.
Many others do not even bother reporting crimes to the police. Dewi Irma, a resident of Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, once had her BlackBerry smartphone snatched from her by a person riding a motorcycle as she was texting on a sidewalk near her home.
She never reported the case to the police because she does not trust them. "If they can't even get hold of a bigwig corruptor with a famous face, what are the chances that they're able to catch my BlackBerry thief, who is a nobody?"
A similar robbery befell the grandmother of Nidia Olanda, a resident of Duren Sawit, East Jakarta. Nidia said that her grandmother had not reported the case to the police because to do so would have created further complications.
Some people refuse to talk to the press about robberies they have experienced to avoid complicating the problem, arguing that they would rather stay silent and get on with their lives than dwell on the problem with no guarantee of a solution.
Indonesian Police Watch chairman Neta S. Pane said that victims' reluctance to report robberies to the police was a sign that the police could not offer legal certainty anymore.
"The public is becoming uncomfortable with dealing with the police. They are afraid of being extorted, which could be much more expensive than the value of the stolen items," he said. "The Jakarta Police should be ashamed of this," he said.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Baharuddin Djafar urged the public not to tolerate corrupt police officers. "Should anyone be asked for money by a police officer, he or she must report it," he said. (mim)