'Civilian face' the ultimate goal of police reform

'Civilian face' the ultimate goal of police reform

By Winahyo Soekanto

DENPASAR (JP): The recent remark of Lt. Gen. Ryamizard
Ryacudu that he was not even sure who was to blame for Jakarta's
incapability to cope with the unrest in Aceh, was quite telling
of the current state of police-military ties.

The commander of the Army's Strategic Reserves Force (Kostrad)
said that when police were being killed in Aceh, it was not
because they were incapable but because the situation was not
theirs to handle in the first place. "The police are not there to
handle (rebel) groups. Those who sent them there should be
blamed," he said.

"We need to see which kind of situations should be handled
fully by civilians, which need police interference, and which
should be handled by the military," he said. "The military has
been too kind all this time. We have been very restrained,
accepting the suggestions of many parties, rather than carrying
out immediate operations in Aceh."

Indeed the police have time and again showed, in many of
Indonesia's hotspots such as Maluku and Central Kalimantan, to be
incapable of convincing the public of their value as a national
resource.

One of the victims of the ethnic unrest in Central Kalimantan
town of Sampit was a successful Madurese businessman who lost
personal assets worth more than Rp 1 billion in the violence.

As soon as he reached safety in Surabaya, he expressed his
outrage by demanding that the Central Kalimantan Police chief and
Sampit Police chief be sacked. He accused the two officers of
standing by and doing nothing to prevent the first sparks of
violence from spreading.

The National Police are indeed one of the institutions that
have consistently reaped criticism. During the New Order regime
many people thought of various degrading names they slapped on
the force.

Hence the term priit jigo, a term that describes a police
officer who signals to a motorist to pull over, leading to the
immediate loss of money for any traffic violation, real or
imagined. There was also the insulting remark about how, if you
reported the theft of a chicken, you would soon lose a goat or a
cow to the police.

The police received a historically significant law when the
government freed them from their long-standing position as
subordinate to the military. The force started to adjust to the
new situation through a number of symbolic gestures, such as
changing their uniform, renaming their ranks, as well as
restructuring their organization.

The challenge of standing alone, however, has proven to be
much greater. Police often appear to be at a loss as to what to
do. Even when the killing frenzy had escalated in Sampit,
military leaders said that they were not going to venture there
without a request from the police.

When the military did enter, they clashed with the police
already posted in the conflict area -- so badly in fact, that the
police and the military troops then had to be confined to
different areas of operation.

Anyone could come up with a further list of evidence of the
police's ineptitude. The Christmas Eve bombing, the continued
disappearance of Tommy Soeharto, the destruction of Golkar
offices in East Java, and the unrest in Sampit are some of the
instances.

Criticism also poured in from the military following their
separation. The police seem to be reluctant to ask for assistance
in cases where the military traditionally possess greater skills
and experience. This includes cases regarding intelligence
information or explosives. This reluctance becomes more apparent
when police encounter criminal cases involving members of the
military.

But the police have made some progress, most notably in their
way of handling protesters. They deserve commendation for
managing to prevent protesting supporters and opponents of Gus
Dur at the House of Representatives from clashing despite being
separated by only a distance of three meters.

They appeared to be more patient and skilled in appeasing
protesters, which was also appeasing to the public eye.

Is the reform of the National Police an isolated phenomenon in
an era of rapid social restructuring? Certainly not, but reform
euphoria and changes in peoples' values have so far failed to
present the police with enough time to undertake fundamental
changes.

Concerns have been voiced that, for a certain period of time,
the police will not be able to do more than merely respond to
social change. What needs to be emphasized, however, is the real
need for support from society, in general, to prevent the police
force from losing their confidence.

A legal expert once said that when a military cadet leaves the
academy, other stages of education await him. But when a police
cadet leaves his academy he is immediately plunged into the
battlefield, namely his community.

Today, with their newfound independence at stake, the police
should equip their cadets with the understanding that because the
community is their battlefield, they must remain close to it.

Some good advice toward achieving this purpose has been coined
in the recommendation of the Brussels-based International Crisis
Group for reorganization, that the police launch short and
medium-term programs, overhaul their training system, establish
an overseeing body as well as necessary legislation.

The ultimate goal of reform of the National Police will
certainly involve replacing their military approach with one that
is wholly civilian in nature. The police should remain an
organized civil force, committed to maintaining law and order,
and who are characterized with wisdom, prudence, sagacity and
shrewdness.

This may be a lofty ideal, but a reflection of the public's
longing nonetheless.

The writer is a lawyer based in Denpasar.