Community helps police improve image
<p>Community helps police improve image</p><p>Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta</p><p> That night, bus driver Sudarman could not believe that he was
sitting and chatting casually with local police officers.</p><p>"I understand now that the police are just ordinary people,
some of them really bad, some good. We can't say that all of them
are bad," said the native of Pandean village.</p><p>Such friendly contact is now possible under a project known as
Community-Oriented Policing (COP), which started in November and
is scheduled to end this October.</p><p>The idea for the project -- with the aim of providing support
for the reform process within the Indonesian Police (Polri), came
from the Center for Human Rights Studies at the Indonesian
Islamic University (Pusham UII) in Yogyakarta.</p><p>Yogyakarta Police chief Brig. Gen Sudirman praised the
program, saying it contributed a great deal to cutting down crime
rates in areas where the project was implemented by up to 20
percent, as well as breaking the ice in the relationship between
members of the community and the police.</p><p>COP is the continuation of a human rights training program for
members of the police, organized by Pusham UII some two years
ago. The goal of the training was to provide participating police
with basic knowledge on human rights, hoping they would no longer
do their job in whatever way they liked.</p><p>COP is currently implemented in three police subprecincts --
Depok Barati in Sleman regency, and Mergangsan and Umbulharjo,
Yogyakarta municipality.</p><p>Each of the selected area has serious and specific security
problems. Depok Barat, for instance, used to be prone to vehicle
theft. In Umbulharjo, residents used to take the law into their
own hands whenever they caught lawbreakers, while Mergangsan was
infamous for daylight robbery.</p><p>Under the sponsorship of the Asia Foundation, the project is
carried out via the creation and development of a sound
partnership between the police and community, through problem-
solving approaches that meet the community's needs and requests.</p><p>According to COP program manager Eko Prasetyo, such a
partnership was aimed at strengthening civil society's capacity
to monitor and improve police performance and practice, based on
principles of transparency, accountability and respect for human
rights.</p><p>The program aims to develop a two-way interaction between the
police and the community in handling security-related problems --
mainly security protection for the community in general and
vulnerable groups like children, women, the disabled and crime
victims.</p><p>"Hopefully, a sound partnership between the police and
community will eventually be formed," Eko told The Jakarta Post.</p><p>The program mostly creates more opportunities for the
community and police to interact and discuss security-related
problems and seek solutions. A monthly meeting is held in each of
the pilot project areas. Additional meetings, at the request of
either party, are also welcomed.</p><p>"Each meeting always ends with an agreed solution to a
particular security problem that people have identified as
requiring urgent and serious action by the police," Eko said.</p><p>A task force consisting of representatives of the community
was also set up at each of the designated areas, with its main
task being to mediate between the police and community, as well
as to make sure the police sincerely implemented agreed solutions
to problems.</p><p>For instance, to reduce the level of daylight and motorcycle
theft, the community required the police to extend and increase
their patrols to narrow village alleys. The police, on the other
hand, required the residents be more alert with regard to
criminal activities in their neighborhoods by quickly informing
them about suspicious activities.</p><p>"In a housing complex, for example, housewives are now taking
part in a daylight patrol to prevent daylight robbery in their
complex," Eko said.</p><p>He insisted the program was not designed to make civilians
take over the job of the police. On the contrary, the police, in
consultation with the community they serve, design and implement
solutions to crime-related issues in a transparent and
accountable manner.</p><p>Eko said the program had proved to be a success, as well as
helping to improve the image of the police. "The program has
received a positive response from the public," he said.</p><p>Head of Umbulharjo Police subprecinct Sr. Com. Adj. Musni
Arifin said that since the project had started it had cut down
the crime rate by up to 16 percent on average.</p><p>"I don't know whether it's simply been a coincidence, but it's
a fact," he told Umbulharjo residents at a recent monthly meeting
held jointly with local residents from Gambiran Baru hamlet,
Pandean.</p><p>Arifin said the program was quite relevant to the police
reform program, especially in changing the previously
militaristic and oppressive attitude of the police to one of
protector and servant of the community.</p><p>In future, the program could also be adopted by other police
subprecincts across the country.</p><p>"The main challenge faced by the Indonesian National Police at
present is to be able to respond adequately and swiftly to the
increasing needs and expectations of citizens for a secure and
safe environment. This project is one of the ways to make it come
true," said Herbin Marulak Siahaan of the Asia Foundation.</p>
sitting and chatting casually with local police officers.</p><p>"I understand now that the police are just ordinary people,
some of them really bad, some good. We can't say that all of them
are bad," said the native of Pandean village.</p><p>Such friendly contact is now possible under a project known as
Community-Oriented Policing (COP), which started in November and
is scheduled to end this October.</p><p>The idea for the project -- with the aim of providing support
for the reform process within the Indonesian Police (Polri), came
from the Center for Human Rights Studies at the Indonesian
Islamic University (Pusham UII) in Yogyakarta.</p><p>Yogyakarta Police chief Brig. Gen Sudirman praised the
program, saying it contributed a great deal to cutting down crime
rates in areas where the project was implemented by up to 20
percent, as well as breaking the ice in the relationship between
members of the community and the police.</p><p>COP is the continuation of a human rights training program for
members of the police, organized by Pusham UII some two years
ago. The goal of the training was to provide participating police
with basic knowledge on human rights, hoping they would no longer
do their job in whatever way they liked.</p><p>COP is currently implemented in three police subprecincts --
Depok Barati in Sleman regency, and Mergangsan and Umbulharjo,
Yogyakarta municipality.</p><p>Each of the selected area has serious and specific security
problems. Depok Barat, for instance, used to be prone to vehicle
theft. In Umbulharjo, residents used to take the law into their
own hands whenever they caught lawbreakers, while Mergangsan was
infamous for daylight robbery.</p><p>Under the sponsorship of the Asia Foundation, the project is
carried out via the creation and development of a sound
partnership between the police and community, through problem-
solving approaches that meet the community's needs and requests.</p><p>According to COP program manager Eko Prasetyo, such a
partnership was aimed at strengthening civil society's capacity
to monitor and improve police performance and practice, based on
principles of transparency, accountability and respect for human
rights.</p><p>The program aims to develop a two-way interaction between the
police and the community in handling security-related problems --
mainly security protection for the community in general and
vulnerable groups like children, women, the disabled and crime
victims.</p><p>"Hopefully, a sound partnership between the police and
community will eventually be formed," Eko told The Jakarta Post.</p><p>The program mostly creates more opportunities for the
community and police to interact and discuss security-related
problems and seek solutions. A monthly meeting is held in each of
the pilot project areas. Additional meetings, at the request of
either party, are also welcomed.</p><p>"Each meeting always ends with an agreed solution to a
particular security problem that people have identified as
requiring urgent and serious action by the police," Eko said.</p><p>A task force consisting of representatives of the community
was also set up at each of the designated areas, with its main
task being to mediate between the police and community, as well
as to make sure the police sincerely implemented agreed solutions
to problems.</p><p>For instance, to reduce the level of daylight and motorcycle
theft, the community required the police to extend and increase
their patrols to narrow village alleys. The police, on the other
hand, required the residents be more alert with regard to
criminal activities in their neighborhoods by quickly informing
them about suspicious activities.</p><p>"In a housing complex, for example, housewives are now taking
part in a daylight patrol to prevent daylight robbery in their
complex," Eko said.</p><p>He insisted the program was not designed to make civilians
take over the job of the police. On the contrary, the police, in
consultation with the community they serve, design and implement
solutions to crime-related issues in a transparent and
accountable manner.</p><p>Eko said the program had proved to be a success, as well as
helping to improve the image of the police. "The program has
received a positive response from the public," he said.</p><p>Head of Umbulharjo Police subprecinct Sr. Com. Adj. Musni
Arifin said that since the project had started it had cut down
the crime rate by up to 16 percent on average.</p><p>"I don't know whether it's simply been a coincidence, but it's
a fact," he told Umbulharjo residents at a recent monthly meeting
held jointly with local residents from Gambiran Baru hamlet,
Pandean.</p><p>Arifin said the program was quite relevant to the police
reform program, especially in changing the previously
militaristic and oppressive attitude of the police to one of
protector and servant of the community.</p><p>In future, the program could also be adopted by other police
subprecincts across the country.</p><p>"The main challenge faced by the Indonesian National Police at
present is to be able to respond adequately and swiftly to the
increasing needs and expectations of citizens for a secure and
safe environment. This project is one of the ways to make it come
true," said Herbin Marulak Siahaan of the Asia Foundation.</p>