Former chief proposes new police watchdog
Former chief proposes new police watchdog
JAKARTA (JP): Prominent former national police chief Awaloedin
Djamin on Wednesday suggested the establishment of a special
commission to supervise the performance of police across the
country.
Speaking at the launch of his new book, Menuju Polri Mandiri
Yang Professional (Heading toward a Professional Independent
Police Force), Awaloedin said the police commission should
closely follow the Japanese model, the role of which is to assist
the head of government to supervise the performance of the
police.
"The commission would watch over the National Police force so
that the officers would not act beyond their duties," he said.
Awaloedin, also a former Indonesian ambassador to Germany, did
not raise relevant issues such as who would sit on the body and
how members of the commission would be elected.
Awaloedin, who is a familiar figure to senior police officers
in many countries overseas, proposed the idea in reference to
President B.J. Habibie's recent comment that regional police
chiefs would in the future be appointed by provincial legislative
councils and be answerable to governors, rather than the
President.
Habibie told a working meeting of governors, district heads,
and mayors at Bina Graha presidential office last Saturday that
over time, police uniforms would not be identical throughout the
territory, but would be determined by the regional
administrations and their legislative councils.
But Awaloedin, dubbed by many local police officers as "The
Reform Father of the Indonesian Police Force", opposed the
president's idea, saying that except for the United States, no
country in the world endorsed such autonomy measures for their
regional police.
"The Philippines and Japan tried (to impose such a system) and
failed. Even the Federal Republic of Germany has one national
police force," he said.
Hasnan Habib, a retired three-star military general and former
ambassador to the U.S., said provincial heads should act as the
chief of operational affairs of local police.
"But on the national scale, the role of the supervisor for the
police would still be assigned to the national police chief," he
said.
The book launch was attended by senior police and military
figures and other observers, including legal expert Loebby
Loeqman, former army strategic commander Kemal Idries, and
Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman.
They all agreed that independency was the keyword for a first
rate and upstanding police force.
Awaloedin's book is a collection of his speeches made on
various occasions, including seminars, since 1997.(03)