House divided over retirement age for police

JAKARTA (JP): Major factions in the House of Representatives special committee in charge of deliberating the bill on the National Police were divided over a proposal to raise the mandatory retirement age for police officers from 55 to 60 years old.

Only the Indonesian Military/National Police faction fully supported the proposal while the others, mainly from the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and the Indonesian Awakening Party (PKB), backed it but with some reservation.

The bill proposes that the mandatory retirement age for police officers be raised from 55 to 58 years old, with personnel given the option of serving until age 60. The reasoning behind the proposal is that a later retirement will help the force cope with the limited number of police personnel and improve police professionalism.

"It is feared that police officers will be frustrated if they have to retire early because even at 60 years of age, most of them still look fresh," Maj. Gen. Syamsul Mu'arif, the spokesman for the Indonesian Military/National Police faction, said.

"Moreover, the proposal also constitutes a good alternative to help solve the shortage of police personnel," he said at a deliberation meeting, which acting Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hari Sabarno attended in his capacity as a government representative.

The bill was submitted two months ago to amend the 1997 Law on National Police and to enforce MPR Decree No. 6/2000 on the separation of the police from the Indonesian Military.

It also stipulates that the police institution be put under the President's direct control as she has the authority to appoint a new police chief with House approval.

The bill further regulates that the police be put under civilian law and the district court system, with their main task being to maintain security at home.

Based on the current law, the mandatory retirement age is set at 45 for low-ranking personnel and 55 for middle and high- ranking officers. According to the law, the police institution still constitutes an integral part of the military and is under the control of the TNI commander and military law.

Agun Gunandjar, a member of the Golkar Party faction, said his faction agreed with the proposal, but did not want to support it in a tactless way.

Serious deliberation is needed because "the bill could be abused by certain police officials to maintain their positions, thereby disturbing career development in the police organization," he said.

He said his faction would be critical of the bill to help reform the police organization in line with people's aspirations.

"All police officers should know the police's new paradigm, especially in public service and human rights. Police officers, who are found guilty of abusing human rights, will be sentenced in accordance with the criminal code," he said.

J. Sahetapy of PDI Perjuangan concurred, but immediately said that the mandatory retirement age should be raised only for non- career personnel who specialized in certain fields.

"It is quite difficult and costly to find police personnel who have expertise in forensic science, economic crimes, investigations and narcotics," he said.

Effendy Choirie, a member of the PKB faction, said after the meeting that his faction would strive to make the bill ready for approval after next month to prevent Bimantoro from extending his term in office.

"If the bill is passed into law this month, Bimantoro, who should be retiring in mid-October, could use it to extend his term in office," he said.

"With the current number of 500,000 police personnel, an officer is forced to serve about 250,000 people," said Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi, the National Police spokesman, citing that ideally the ratio should be one officer for every 250 people. (rms)