BRIN Researcher Criticises the Use of the Term 'Individual' in Cases of Police Violence, Stating that the Actions of Police Officers Reflect the Image of the State
Headline
All proceeds from crimes that harm the state must be confiscated.
All proceeds from crimes that harm the state must be confiscated.
Researcher at the Centre for Political Research of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Sarah Nuraini Siregar, criticised the use of the term ‘individual’ in every case of violation or violence committed by police officers. According to her, the use of this term is no longer relevant and actually creates resistance among the public.
Sarah emphasised that the police are not just individuals, but an entity, an identity, and a personification of the state in the public sphere. Therefore, the actions of one member reflect the institution as a whole in the eyes of the people.
“When one member commits abuse of power or violence, we cannot call it an individual. That is the face of the personification of the state in front of the public,” said Sarah in Jakarta, Wednesday (25/2).
Sarah highlighted how incidents of violence, such as the tragedy in Tual, Maluku, which went viral on social media, automatically shape public judgment of the Polri institution. She believes that the public will not separate individual mistakes from the reputation of the Bhayangkara Corps.
With the status as a symbol of the state, Sarah reminded that the burden of integrity carried by each member of Polri is very heavy. She urged the police to stop hiding behind the term ‘individual’ and start improving the behaviour of members as a unified vision of the state.
“It is impossible for the public to say ‘it’s just that one person who is wrong, the others are good’. Look at the comments on social media, everyone is talking about the ‘Brown Party’ or other stigmas. This is the reality that the face of our police is what they see in the field,” she explained. (Faj/P-3)
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