VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

West Java Governor M. Ridwan Kamil has asked Bandung city residents to improve the neighborhood watch system to reduce crimes at night, including street crimes.

"But why are there so many crimes? This is our collective duty. It means that there is our social system that must be perfected. That's why we are improving neighborhood watch. Does (it mean) the security personnel will not work when neighborhood watch is conducted? Not necessarily, no. Security is a collective obligation," he said in Bandung on Thursday.

Social media users had likened Bandung city to the fictional Gotham city. This was in view of a spike in street crimes in the city.

Governor Ridwan Kamil said that he had coordinated and discussed the issue with the authorities.

He said his administration has ensured that the police continue to work to maintain security and public order.

"I have coordinated (on this), there have also been many arrests. So, this is social dynamics. This is an example, alright: crime is human nature. If there is a crime, it is not necessarily because the police are not working, but indeed some groups of people have the nature to break the law," he said.

The governor said that based on data collected at the end of 2021, the crime rate in West Java was relatively low compared to the province's population of nearly 50 million.

"The question is, are they being dealt with? There was an answer last time. You also quoted the number of crimes in West Java in 2022 compared to dozens of provinces, we rank 10th. We are only 7 thousand at the end of 2021 compared to 30 thousand in other provinces whose population is one-fifth of West Java; so if you use statistics, West Java’s crime rate is very low," Kamil said.

Even so, he said he believes that rampant street crime must still be addressed.

"However, what's known as crime involves humans in all state systems with complete security in every way. It is crime — it just exists because it is human nature, so the question is: have the police taken action? They have taken action," he added. (antaranews)