Bayu Marhaenjati, Jakarta – A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit ranking Jakarta bottom of a list of 50 global cities has been greeted with a degree of disbelief by the capital's police chief.
"We just caught four rearview window thieves in West Jakarta a few days ago," said Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Unggung Cahyono.
The Safe Cities Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) put Jakarta at the bottom of a list of 50 international cities. The report measured the relative level of safety in four broad categories: digital security, health security, infrastructure security, and personal safety. Some 44 metrics were used in the survey, which included cities such Bangkok, Hong Kong, New York and Rio de Janeiro.
The criteria used by the EIU report looks at everything from pedestrian friendliness to the percentage of computers infected with malware – two categories in which Jakarta was never likely to have fared well. Other factors such as the percentage of people living in slums and access to clean water were priced into the overall calculation.
The Jakarta Police chief was, however, rather more keen to talk about robust policing in Southeast Asia's largest city.
"We use more than four indicators. We also use conventional crime, such as vehicle theft, transnational crime such as drug smuggling, crime against the state...," Unggung said on Friday.
The police said that, from their point of view, Jakarta should serve as a model for safety to its regional peers. "Other countries can look up to us," he said. "Today during night patrols, I can see people are still gathering in the Old Town area at 3 a.m. It means it is still safe."