Police: Central Sulawesi crime rates increasing
Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu, January 03, 2008

The crime rate in Central Sulawesi rose an average 9 percent, or to 7,895 cases in 2007 compared to the 7,250 cases in the previous year, a senior police official said in Palu on Wednesday.
Central Sulawesi Police Chief Brig. Gen. Badrodin Haiti told reporters the total number of crimes covered four categories; 7,623 cases related to conventional crime, 93 cases to transnational crime, 176 cases to crime against state wealth and three cases to contingent crime.
Badrodin said conventional crime was dominated by 1,710 cases of assault, from light to severe, followed by 1,657 cases of theft, 679 cases of fraud and 399 cases of extortion.
Psychotropic drug-related offenses were ranked top in the transnational crime category, with 77 cases, followed by 11 terror attack cases, three cases involving the possession of firearms and explosive materials and two drug-related cases. Terrorism cases dropped drastically in 2007 compared to the 45 cases the previous year.
Illegal logging ranked top with 156 cases in the crime against state wealth category, followed by 16 cases of corruption, three cases of money counterfeiting and one case of environmental destruction.
Contingent crime cases included conflicts involving tribal affiliations, religion, race and societal groups, military-police rivalry and an attack on a police station.
However, Badrodin said there was an increase in the number of solved crimes due to proactive law enforcement measures.
"More crimes were solved because police officers were proactive in carrying out their duties. I believe this was a good performance," he said.
However, he acknowledged his force was still slow in resolving cases, despite the rising trend each year. Of the 7,895 crimes in 2007, the police resolved 42 percent, or 3,512 cases.
Badrodin expressed hope terrorism cases in the province would drop this year, following the arrests of a number of perpetrators in Poso.
He said Poso residents were still easily provoked by certain issues, adding police personnel would be very careful in handling problems in Central Sulawesi, especially in Poso.
"In Poso, a traffic accident can spark a terror issue. I hope all parties will be able to work together to dispel the negative issues."