A problem of image

To judge by the frequency with which they occur and the ease with which they are provoked, one might believe that attacks on police posts have become something of a new fad among Indonesians these days.

In Karawang, just 72 kilometers east of Jakarta, daily life was practically paralyzed late last week when thousands of residents went berserk, attacking and vandalizing police stations, burning cars and looting shops in a day of violence in which two people died and at least eight others were wounded in clashes between mobs and security personnel.

The reason for the violence: Rumors that a motorcycle taxi driver had been physically abused by a police officer when he refused to pay the officer off after being reprimanded for a minor violation. Whether or not the account is true is of course difficult to authenticate in the wake of the violence though, unfortunately, such accounts are easily believed by the public.

The Karawang incident is but the latest in a string of outbreaks of unrest in which the police have become the target of mob violence. In the normally peaceful city of Surakarta in Central Java last month, people turned violent when police tried to disperse onlookers and stop youths from using the streets as an arena for drag races. A police headquarters and the official residence of the local police chief were attacked and damaged.

Two far-flung localities in other parts of Indonesia have also seen heavy rioting; in November it was the turn of Tarutung in the Sumatran regency of North Tapanuli, and then in December Poso in Central Sulawesi. In the first incident, a police headquarters was attacked, in the second the mobs concentrated their destructive efforts on a police barracks.

Looking even farther back into the past, one could see that attacks on police stations and headquarters are not exactly a new phenomenon in this country. Remember, for instance, the Cicendo incident in Bandung during the New Order regime. Also, of course, security personnel including police are normal targets of mob anger in such circumstances as the forcible eviction of illegal land occupants or squatters.

It is only in the past few months, however, that the nature and frequency of incidents appear to indicate that these recent attacks may be more than local occurrences that occur sporadically and are sparked by isolated arguments. Something more basic than local or personal resentments must be at play.

It is interesting in this context to cite a few findings of a survey conducted among Jakarta residents by the daily newspaper Kompas last weekend. Polled on a number of questions, the following basic findings emerged: More than 68 percent of respondents believe it takes money to deal with the police. More than 62 percent believe asking for police help is a tedious affair and nearly 40 percent of respondents think involving the police only makes things more complicated. Moreover, 47 percent of respondents believe the police are incapable of protecting the public against crime.

In a nutshell what the poll appears to confirm is the widely voiced opinion that the police are less than effective in the performance of their most basic duty of protecting and serving the public. On the other hand, the ubiquitous complaint about the police and their money-taking, not to say extortion, from motorists along the roads does not help to make their image any better.

It is an age-old adage that in order to possess authority one must have the respect of other people, and in order to earn people's respect exemplary behavior is a prerequisite. Our police authorities would do well to keep this old axiom in mind. Instilling such an attitude among the rank and file of our police is admittedly no easy task.

Yet, it is a step that is sure to be the most effective for the purpose -- more so even than expanding the force or mobilizing civilian guards to assist the police in times of trouble.