Since the beginning of 2018, there have been numerous disturbing reports of sexual assaults taking place in Jakarta. In two instances, those assaults were captured on CCTV. Today, Vice Governor Sandiaga Uno promised a massive 10-fold increase in the number of CCTV cameras installed around the capital to help improve the safety of citizens.
“We want to install 60,000 CCTV camera in all areas of Jakarta, now there are only 6,000. One of the reasons is to make Jakarta not just smart but also safe,” Sandiaga said today as quoted by Detik.
Sandiaga specifically referred to the recent case of a woman who was sexually assaulted in a narrow alleyway in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, as the kind of incident more CCTV cameras could help prevent.
Sandiaga said the government would work with businesses to help install the cameras throughout the city, especially in those areas more vulnerable to crime.
In addition to the sexual assault captured by CCTV in Jatinegara last week (which was used to help track down the perpetrator who was arrested yesterday), CCTV camera footage also caught the sexual harassment of a young woman in Depok last month. Despite having the footage as evidence, the victim says she was met with apathy by the police when she tried to report the crime and it was not until she released the video onto social media, where it quickly went viral, did police start taking it seriously, eventually arresting the suspected perpetrator.
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