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Soeharto-era community patrols to be reactivated

Jakarta Post - January 16, 2016

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Anton Hermansyah, Jakarta – The Jakarta administration plans to reactivate the New Order legacy of community patrols, known as siskamling, in a bid to help prevent terrorism by curbing the development of terrorist cells in neighborhoods.

Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said the siskamling – a security system created in 1981 – would be stipulated in regulations along with bolstered obligations to report any temporary visitors staying in a neighborhood more than two days.

"The siskamling system must be reactivated to prevent any attempts of terrorism, because it may happen anywhere. The terrorist may be in your neighborhood," he said in Jakarta on Friday. If necessary, he added, he would issue an official letter to reactivate the volunteer neighborhood watch.

Siskamling are organized at the level of neighborhood units (RT) and community units (RW). Each family must send a representative to join the patrol in a group consisting of three or more persons, based on a collectively agreed schedule. (ags)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/01/16/soeharto-era-community-patrols-be-reactivated.html.