There is a strong perception that “preman” or free man, a local way of mentioning local gang, is something the public and the state are afraid of and, logically, neither the public or the state seeks the benefit of preman.
In fact, the preman and their capability in providing a biased safety and security situation become a function in a society that members of the public and state institutions prepare to hire. Not only that, civil society people, despite their equal position, are not less eager to seek the help of preman anytime when involving conflict with other. This may explain why this phenomenon exists and grows nowadays.
This paper sets examples of land dispute occurred in Jakarta area where the residence in that neighborhood demands a certain piece of land to be provided for public facility. On the other hand, using other legal infrastructures, the real-estate developers are keen to use the land for commercial purposes. Both end up in asking different group of preman while dismissing the Government and the Police. To make it worst, the Government and the Police provide no sufficient effort to regain their credibility from preman.
