Police Story

In a game of Cop & Thief, the Thief must and have to be lucky all the time if they want to live another day. But the Cop would only have to be lucky once to caught the Thief, or to wait for the Thief to made a single mistake.

I considered myself as a careful rider. Of course, when you're talking about careful rider in Jakarta, you ought to put a winking quote in the word 'careful' because had you asked any driver in Jakarta about what they had thought of us, motorcyclist, the first and foremost responses are guaranteed to be negative. Anyway, i'm not saying that i'm the genuine holy man or that i'm right and everybody else's wrong, but, on a normal daily routine, i had my own strict rules when it comes to riding. When riding, again only on a normal day i had tried to NOT do anything that i DON'T LIKE to see from others. This includes, stopping at a every red-light, and only moved when the traffic-light really turns green, stick to the left side of the road, and never went faster than 50 miles per hour. I was also ever wary when i see cops. When they rides their huge Yamaha patroling the Rasuna Said and Gatot Subroto, i made a considerable distance behind them, riding comfortably. That's my rule. But of course, since i'm a Thief, and they're the Cops, one mistake was all it took for me to get comprehended by the authority.

Yesterday evening, around 4.30 pm, i was riding comfortably in Rasuna Said. So calm and confident i was that i hadn't noticed two unit of traffic cops patroling ahead of me. I passed them in a normal allowed speed. Mind you, i was riding comfortably, just straight ahead following rules just like any other motorcyclist. But, in front of Setiabudi Building, one of these traffic cop stopped me. I, who has been riding for at least four or five months without any license (i had a driving license, but i was misplaced it. I don't even remember when the last time i saw it. One day, my dad asking me about wether i still had the driving license and ID card, and that's when i look into my wallet, and realized that i can't find my driving license) know immediately that i'm in trouble.

This cop, approaches me and asked me wether i know what was went wrong. I said, almost with a mocking humor, "I was wrong because i had riding safely and peacefully?". But stopped right away because i don't see any smile on his face. He told me that i shouldn't fold my license plate. I thought, WTF?! Hm, now that's new. Anyway, the reason i fold my license plate was to prevent it from being tampered. The details were a bit technical, but i had a reason. And then he asks me for my driving license, which is of course i don't have. I could easily imagine his face smiling in satisfaction. Afterward, he recites words that i'm sure he has repeated over and over again until he doesn't really cared wether his words is true or not. I wouldnt've known anyway. He said that i'm violating the law number something about driving without license and therefore he has to confiscate my motorcycle and i had to face a trial at the February 12th, bla bla bla. I waited patiently, almost yawning, once rolled my eyes upward, and desperately fighting the urge to pick my nose. You who has ever deal with traffic cops in Jakarta would know where this incident leads to.

When he finishes his recital, and it was my turn to say something, i said, in a tone not very much unlike that of a call-center receptionist on his/her 8th hour shift, receiving one more call, "But, sir, February 12th is Wednesday - truth is, February 12th is Tuesday, but i don't care. Apparently, neither did he - i had to go to work. Could we settle it now?". And then, the infamous response. "The cost for a trial is 150,000 rupiahs, how many would you give me?". I said, that i've only got 50,000 rupiahs in my wallet at the moment. He took it without further argument, and even went as far as bid me farewell and a 'good afternoon'. All the while, no smile upon his face. For him, it's just a routine anyway. For me, yup, it's just another standard procedure when a traffic cop stopped you. Pretending that you had all important stuff to do thus made you inelligible to attend the trial at whatever date he's mentioned, and just shake him off with your hard-earned money. Have you seen any traffic cop in Jakarta that really sent you to trial no matter how much you're willing to bribe him? Now, that's a rare treat. Alas, once is enough. Yesterday was, by the way, my third deal with traffic cops for three years i've been riding on the street of Jakarta.