Ex-chief backs police autonomy

By Edith Hartanto

JAKARTA (JP): In its 52nd year, the National Police have been through many vicissitudes in their attempts to "protect and serve the public".

Since the enactment of Police Law No. 13/1961 which stipulates the police's integration into the Armed Forces (ABRI), many things have changed. As a consequences of being part of the most powerful social and political institution in this country, the police often have to become a political tool of the government and and ABRI.

In several cases, it is believed the police were forced to take responsibility for other parties' -- including the military and the authorities -- misconduct.

The idea to separate the police from ABRI is not new. And recent cases such as the abduction of activists and the Trisakti shooting incident have once again prompted out the idea, which quickly gained support from scholars, experts and high-ranking police officers.

Gen. (ret) Awaloedin Djamin, who was National Police chief from 1978 to 1982, revealed his views on police autonomy to The Jakarta Post recently.

"I tell you this. We have been fighting for police autonomy for dozens of years. There is no other country in the world which has its police under the military.

"The police have to be independent in undertaking their duty to uphold the criminal justice system. They cannot be interfered with by other political or economic influences."

More details on his views are revealed here.

Question: Why should the police be separated from the Armed Forces? Is it possible to realize this idea at the moment?

Answer: Any police in the world are part of the country's history, political system and governmental system. Our police were declared existent on Aug. 21, 1945 as the Police of the Republic of Indonesia by IP M. Jasin (Special Police Commander of East Java), basically because the police also fought for Indonesian Independence.

July 1, 1946 -- known as Bhayangkara Day -- was the official birth of the Indonesian National Police.

National police forces have become a global trend in the last 40 years. Even federal countries such as Germany and Malaysia coordinate their police. They wear the same uniforms and carry the same guns, but most of all, they are not part of the military forces.

From 1946 to 1961 our police were responsible directly to the head of state.

But after the enactment of Police Law No. 13/1961, which stated that the police are part of ABRI, everything changed. In 1967, the police started to lose their autonomy as our operational budget and planning were designed by ABRI headquarters.

Since then until the present, the police have always been left in a corner.

To do their duty in implementing the criminal justice system, the police need to stand as a nondepartmental institution, such as the State Prosecutors Office. If not, they will easily become vulnerable to interference from other powerful interests.

To fulfill their duty as protector and server of the people, the police must be flexible as front-line officers. The essential ethic is humanity, not "killed or to be killed" as is the case for the military.

These differences (between the police and ABRI) made it difficult for the police to develop. The police operational costs, planning, salaries and welfare budgets were set like the other three military branches. In fact, the budget have been cut many times here and there. The police need to undertake their duties everyday, not only in times of war like the military.

For budgeting purposes, the police is under the minister of defense and as far as planning is concerned, it is under the ABRI commander. How complicated ..

Imagine this. The police budget is set (by ABRI) based on the police-to-population ratio, which is 1:1,200 nationally (one police officer for 1,200 residents). This is crazy! The ideal ratio, based on United Nations standards, is 1:400. Still, the police get the smallest part of the cake, but with a list of duties the size of a mountain.

That is why, to reach the ideal state, the police have to be separated from ABRI and gain back their autonomy. So then we can meet the police's needs and determine the budget ourselves. I think it could be realized, if there is strong political will, especially from Gen. Wiranto (Armed Forces commander/minister of defense) and other decision makers.

Q: You said the police were put in a corner since they were integrated into ABRI. Could you elaborate?

A: I can give you a bunch of examples on this matter. There are two things which caused this: the centralization of the police budget in ABRI and the beginning of military cooperation such as the formation of Defense Nation Groups (DNG).

ABRI gets grants for DNG. So Indonesia could receive, for instance, Nomad armored airplanes, for free. But because the police are treated as part of the military, the police get nothing.

In budgeting, here's an example. When I was the national police chief, the police budget was only Rp 4.5 billion for the whole country. We had thousands of sectors to be supported, hundreds of bases, dormitories and schools.

I fought to get more. I told the minister of defense/armed forces commander at that time (M.Jusuf): "Well, what kind of police does this country have?" and he raised the police budget to Rp 19 billion for the next year.

I said "Thank you Sir.. you gave the police a budget raise. But I want to ask you, how much do you spend on F-16s and other warfare equipment? It's not that I'm not grateful. It's just not fair." And later he increased the budget again... ha ha... But still, the police are treated like orphans.

Once in 1981, we were to get two 400-ton patrol ships, a move that had been approved by the president. But when PT PAL, the state-owned ship manufacturer, completed the construction of the ships, both of them were granted to the Navy, not us!

When I asked about this, they said that it all depended on the ABRI headquarters' planning and budget decisions. Even when the Navy bought 39 German armored ships, they did not return our two ships.

In education, the police was also treated differently. I had to search for oversees scholarships myself for my officers... from Germany or England.. When I got a grant, it all had to pass through the ABRI headquarters first before it got to the police.

Once I got two million German marks for the police, but guess what I received later. I asked Benny Moerdani (then the head of the Armed Forces Intelligence) where the money went.

"What are you doing with my (police) grant?" Eventually Benny said that the grant had been cut. "Well Sir. ...you have got only 700,000 marks." Imagine, they took away 1.3 million marks.

Another example is when the police was recommended to receive training from GSG-9 (a special German antiterrorist squad). But once again, that proposal had to go through ABRI headquarters first.

I was the one who got (the recommendation for) the course, but look who took the chance... it was grabbed by the Army. Well, it was Prabowo Subianto (now chief of the Armed Forces staff and command school) who took the course. Now people are afraid of him because he's a master of antiterrorist warfare.

Q: Do you think the police are ready to detach themselves from ABRI?

A: Well. Sooner or later the police have to be independent and undertake their true function, won't they? Even if the police become independent now, it will take at least 10 years to work things out. The police have so many problems to resolve. So if not now, when?

The most important thing to do now is to improve the police's human resources. The recruitment system within the Armed Forces Academy must be changed. It is no secret that bright cadets, even though they might want to join the police, end up joining a military branch, particularly the Army. The other military forces (the Navy and the Air Force) have complained about the recruitment system too.

Thus, in this reform movement, the timing is perfect. The police also badly need laws reformed plus political will from all related parties. The Armed Forces commander said that he wants the best for the police, the best for everyone. So I hope he keeps his word.

The police is needed by the people. They have a love-hate relationship... the police face obstacles doing their duty, because financially we are poor. Some people try to get above the law, and are willing to pay for it. This is a mutual situation.

If the police want to separate from ABRI, they also have to work on their "mentality." They have to get rid of, for instance, their mentality of being corrupt.

With greater autonomy, the police could get better salaries, an adequate budget and therefore serve the people well.

The public have to know that there is no service for free. If the police have new targets, hopefully this could boost their professionalism.

Q: It is believed that in certain cases, the police often become scapegoats as they should be held responsible for the misconduct of other parties. What do you think about this?

A: I won't use that term (scapegoat). I think it is just a side effect, the result of the police's dependence on the Armed Forces. This would not have happened if the police had stood independent as part of the criminal justice system and upholder of social order. The police's duty is to be an investigator and enforcer of the law.

But look what happens. The military branches interfere with the police. They act as if they are police officers. This is wrong and must be redressed soon.

The Trisakti case is one example of what really happens between the police and ABRI. When command speaks stronger than the law... see what happens. I won't speak more... it's too painful.

Well, I just hope for the best. I've stated my opinion to Wiranto. It's all up to him now.