Corruption rampant in police, says ADB
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In a corner of a kiosk in suburban Jakarta, a young man brags about how he managed to escape being imprisoned after paying Rp 1 million (US$107) to a police officer who had arrested him for possession of a small amount of marijuana.
In contrast, Siti (not her real name) put on a sad face because she could not come up with the Rp 10 million (US$1,075) demanded by police officers who caught her husband selling two ecstasy pills at a discotheque in West Jakarta.
The practice of bribing police officers is acceptable to some people to avoid facing tiresome legal procedures to obtain justice.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) mentions such practices in its report titled Country Governance Assessment Report-Indonesia, saying it was one hurdle for the National Police to overcome.
The report says the public ranks the police as the poorest performing major public institution serving the community because the institution has not effectively dealt with the endemic corruption within its own departments.
"Corruption is in fact institutionalized. Examples of corruption and malpractice cited by the police -- dereliction of duty, misuse of operational funds, extortion, bribery in criminal cases, bribery and nepotism in appointments and promotions, protection of gambling and prostitution, and debt collection -- are all common among units and police officers across the country," the report says.
The ADB gave an example of how corruption in the force began at the recruitment stage, citing how families may have to pay between Rp 10 million to Rp 40 million to enroll their child in the police school.
Adrianus Meliala, a police expert from the University of Indonesia, said that a similar report about rampant corruption within the police had been submitted by students at the Police Academy about one and a half years ago.
"I can say that the National Police are aware of the (widespread corrupt) practice. The police have admitted their mistakes, which is far better than other institutions that continue to deny such allegations. The police started introducing reform measures in 1999 by formulating a clear appraisal system based on capacity and performance," said Adrianus.
The ADB also believes that insufficient skillful personnel had caused the police's performance in fighting corruption outside the institution to appear stagnant.
The National Corruption Crime Directorate at police headquarters has only 40 operative officers, while provincial police have an average of 10 operative officers assigned to handle corruption cases. Worse still, from only a handful of trained accountants working for the National Police, none of them work in corruption units, the report said.
In fact, the lack of personnel in the corruption crime unit represents the imbalance between the number of police officers and the number of population it serves. One Indonesian police officer serves 1,068 citizens, which is far from the ideal number constituted by the United Nations, which is 1:400.
According to the bank, it is even below the ratio in India, the second most populated country in the world, which has a ratio of 1:700. (006)