Endriarto's idea to disarm police gets thumbs down

JAKARTA (JP): Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto's proposal to disarm the nation's police has received a big thumbs down.

Observers say that, if unarmed, the police would be dysfunctional and their lives placed in danger because of the number of hardcore criminals brandishing guns nowadays.

Police Watchdog Coordinator Nur Atar Achmad dismissed Endriartono's proposal as "ridiculous".

"How can the National Police enforce the law (without firearms)? If they were disarmed, they would get killed on duty," Atar told The Jakarta Post.

Endriartono floated his unarmed police idea at a hearing with the House of Representatives last Wednesday. He envisioned Indonesia's police officers as being a "moral force" armed only with batons, like those used by British police.

The proposal came in the wake of a clash between Army soldiers and police officers in Madiun, East Java, which left three civilians dead.

Atar said, "No, we can't disarm the National Police because it would contravene international regulations."

According to a convention of the United Nations (UN), all police officers should carry weapons while they are on duty. The convention also administers how police should deal with protesters or criminals, he said.

"The police officers must first fire warning shots to disperse protesters. If the protesters ignore the warning, police officers are allowed to use tear-gas and rubber bullets," he said.

Strong opposition was aired by former police chief Awaloeddin Djamin.

"How can our police officers combat crimes if they are only armed with knives and sticks while the criminals equip themselves with automatic guns?" he said.

Awaloeddin said he agreed police should not equip themselves with firearms in cases where they are dealing with peaceful demonstrations or regulating traffic.

He challenged the army to review its policy on carrying weapons.

"Let's be strict on the rule that no military officers can take weapons outside their headquarters or when they are not on duty. Can they do it?"

Wrong solution

Criminologist Mulyana W. Kusumah said disarming the police officers would not be the right solution because the main problem causing the army-police conflict was lack of discipline.

Mulyana said conflict was often a result of overlapping authority between the two forces in maintaining security and public order.

"In some regions there is rivalry between them. This rivalry often leads to clashes," he told the Post.

Mulyana noted that there has been six reported clashes between police officers and soldiers this year.

"Before the Madiun incident, there were clashes in Ambon and Irian Jaya," he said.

Mulyana said it would be much better to determine what kind of weapons should be given to police officers.

"Principally, the weapons of police officers must not be combat weapons," he said.

"Indeed, police officers on main roads in Britain don't carry arms. But the police always carry weapons in raids," Mulyana added. (08/emf))