Ex-chief backs police autonomy

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.