(5/18/2012)
The Jakarta Globe reports that the Bali police have established special task forces for rapid response whenever foreign tourist visitors are involved in crime or accidents.
Initially limited to just Bali’s capital of Denpasar and the regencies of Badung and Gianyar, Senior Police Commander Adi S. Putra, in charge of tourism security, said,
“We want to be proactive and not have to wait for reports when something happens to tourists.”
The special task force is comprised of 20 officers, carried around the island in a new van bearing the motto “To Serve and Protect.” The vehicle carries office equipment, computers and printers that will permit the police to file police reports without compelling the victims of crime to come to a local precinct station.
A separate beach task force has 10 officers who use motorcycles for patrolling beach areas.
Those assigned to the task force were selected based on their professional records, foreign language skills, knowledge of information technology and general tourism knowledge.
Over the last year, 177 tourists were victims of crime in Bali. According to statistics kept by the Bali police, most crime involved theft, robbery, manhandling, pick pocketing and sexual harassment.
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