High Public Satisfaction with Police Seen as Fruit of Internal Reform

The Coordinator of Gerakan Indonesia Cerah (GIC), Febri Wahyuni Sabran, stated that the latest Kompas Research and Development survey showing an 80.6 percent public satisfaction rate with the Indonesian National Police (Polri) is a strong indicator of the success of the Bhayangkara Corps’ internal reform. This high figure is viewed as validation that structural and cultural changes within the police force have received a positive response from the public.

According to Febri, this achievement is a crucial social asset in strengthening the strategic partnership between security forces and civil society to maintain national order and security sustainably. "Polri under the leadership of General Listyo Sigit Prabowo is the backbone of maintaining societal and state stability. When public trust is formed organically through real reform, the potential for cooperation between the agency and citizens becomes much greater," Febri said in a written statement on Sunday.

Febri noted that the improvement in positive public perception is inseparable from the consistent implementation of the internal reform blueprint through the ‘Presisi’ programme. The programme, an acronym for Predictive, Responsibility, and Transparency with Justice, is considered to have successfully shifted the police paradigm. He assessed that the Kompas Research and Development survey results are proof that the concept has not merely remained at the level of ideas or jargon but has been implemented in tangible public services at various levels.

Furthermore, Febri mapped out two main strategic implications of the high social legitimacy currently held by the Polri institution. First, legitimacy of the security function. High trust provides the police with strong room for manoeuvre and legal legitimacy in carrying out functional law enforcement duties in the field without significant social resistance. Second, as an asset for government stability. In the context of the power transition to the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, a public-trusted Polri functions as an effective social glue to mitigate potential polarisation due to national political dynamics. Amidst various future socio-political challenges, this social capital in the form of public trust must be consistently maintained. Polri is expected to maintain its performance as a security stabiliser as well as a protector of democratic values in Indonesia.