Yogyakarta City Government Anticipates New Pattern Of “Klitih” Crime

Deputy Mayor of Yogyakarta Heroe Poerwadi/ANTARA

YOGYAKARTA - The Yogyakarta City Government anticipates the emergence of a new pattern of street crimes or klitih crimes, which again claimed lives.

Deputy Mayor of Yogyakarta Heroe Poerwadi, said the Yogyakarta City Government continues to maximize prevention efforts so that similar cases do not happen again.

"From the aspect of prevention, the efforts we have made are quite numerous and maximal; however, if you look at it, the actions that have emerged recently seem to be different from previous klitih actions," said Heroe Poerwadi, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, April 5.

According to him, the pattern of klitih crimes that have emerged recently needs to be studied more deeply to find out the root of the problem, so that appropriate prevention efforts can be made. The klitih crime was initially motivated by student gangs for the process of recruiting new members, he said.

"However, the actions that have emerged recently do not appear to be motivated by large gangs or student gangs. Therefore, the cause needs to be re-mapped," he added.

The street crime action, he continued, decreased significantly when the restrictions on community activities (PPKM) were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"But as soon as community activities are relaxed again because the (COVID-19) cases have dropped, then these crimes will reappear, whether it's because of loose activities or other reasons, for example the reincarnation of student fights," he said.

If the root of the problem is the reincarnation of student fights, he said, stricter anticipation is needed from the school.

"Actually, schools have been monitoring student activities in their respective schools. However, what is difficult is monitoring student activities outside school, outside school hours," he said.

In addition to schools, the Yogyakarta City Government has also asked sub-districts and sub-districts to monitor activities in their respective areas, especially at vulnerable times.

"The RT and RW posts that existed during PPKM can also be used to monitor security conditions in their respective areas," he said.

Meanwhile, regarding the imposition of sanctions, he said there was an agreement with various parties, including child observers and the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), that the action could be brought into the realm of general crime.

"In certain cases, the street action (klitih) can be brought to justice as a general crime, no longer a child crime," he said.

With a severe punishment, Heroe hopes that it can provide a deterrent effect to the perpetrators so they don't repeat and suppress other similar actions.