Low paid police officers face a though challenge

By Sylvia Gratia M. Nirang

JAKARTA (JP): The police have long been a target of public criticism. People frown upon the police when they are too slow in handling cases, or too harsh in dealing with suspects.

Some have become cynical about the police and consider them "insignificant in the Armed Forces family". They say the police do not count compared to the military.

Maj. Gen. Ahwil Lutan, governor of the Police Staff College (PTIK) acknowledged that the police were more susceptible to public criticism because their job required them to work within society.

"The police's job everywhere in the world is not interesting because most of our job deprives people of their rights, such as summoning, investigating, arresting and frisking them," he told The Jakarta Post.

"It is much more difficult than being a soldier, who mostly deals with weapons only. We have to be more flexible because our job involves human rights," he added.

Policing society is becoming harder as the job is full of pitfalls. Police have to enforce the rules, but at the same time they must handle the public in a flexible manner, Ahwil said.

He said there were four elements that made a good police officer: motivation, a good education, good training and financial standing.

"People often forget about an officer's welfare. They only want the police to meet their expectations. If we want to be honest, the salary of the lowest-ranked police officer is below the minimum wage," he said.

"That's why it's not easy. We have to train police officers to do their best, and even to risk their lives amid the lack of facilities and very low salaries," he said.

He did not say how much a police officer earns on average, but current monthly minimum wages in Indonesia are between Rp 109,000 (in Yogyakarta) and Rp 235,000 (in Batam).

Protect

Ahwil said that basically police education differed from that of the military.

"Military officers are trained to use weapons to kill the nation's enemies, as many as they can, while we, the police, are trained to handle people, to protect people," Ahwil said.

According to Ahwil, police education is divided into three categories: basic police education, advanced education and scientific and technological education.

Basic police education aims at transferring police skills to a civilian who wants to become a police officer. It is provided by the Sekolah Tamtama and Sekolah Bintara (both are schools for noncommissioned officers), Sekolah Perwira (Officers School) and the Police Academy (Akpol).

"Our police education is different from other countries. England for example, has just one entry gate... everyone who wants to join the police has to start their career as a patrolman. Here, we offer various ranks depending on educational background," he said.

Advanced education aims to develop the abilities of a police officer after several years of being on the force. The education prepares an officer to become a police leader. This can be obtained through a cycle of education, training and experiences with various duties.

Included in this stage are the PTIK, the Police Officers Advanced School (Selapa), the Indonesian Police Staff and Senior Officers School (Sespimpol) and the Armed Forces Staff and Command School (Seskogab ABRI).

Scientific

The third stage, called scientific and technological education, is provided in schools and courses which focus on improving police techniques and expertise, such as drug and narcotics enforcement courses.

They aim to give police officers special police expertise which supports their careers.

PTIK and Selapa are for senior staff, such as resort commanders, while Sespimpol and Seskogab are for high-ranking officers.

Ahwil said PTIK was established in 1946 in Jakarta to improve the ability of police officers graduating from the Police Academy so they could get an undergraduate degree.

"We aim to boost human resources in the National Police. Frankly speaking, only a limited number of police officers with specific qualifications gain access to the Staff College," Ahwil said.

The college selects students on the basis of their academic performance, mental ability and health.

"All of our students have to achieve high scores in these criteria. There is no place for those who fail to meet the requirements. We try to be strict, and sorry, no bribes are allowed," Ahwil said.

He noted that there were three main aspects of the college's education system which must be improved -- the curriculum, the learning process and the quality of lecturers.

"The police now have to face all kinds of problems, not just crime. The political and economic situation interferes with our job and that is why this college is important to help us to broaden our perspectives.

"It really helps us to become more professional and modern. We're the police. We do not only have a military capacity, we have to protect and serve the people, too. That's our main job."

PTIK students are taught both general subjects and police skills.

"We began an academic cooperation with University of Indonesia (UI) in 1986. We follow its standard curriculum and 50 percent of the lecturers here come from UI. Our tuition fees are also the same as for UI postgraduate courses."

Ahwil said PTIK would introduce a new postgraduate (S3) course next year and would welcome civilian applicants.

He said the new course would offer classes in three major subjects -- police law, police administration and police technology.

Postgraduate classes will be provided in conjunction with the magisterial classes (S2) which the school has been running for three years, he said.

"The new course will be open to members of the public in the same way as the magisterial course is. If you pass the tests and meet our standard qualifications then you can enroll at the college. We currently have some Atmajaya University graduates in the magisterial course," Ahwil said.

He added that PTIK undergraduate (S1) courses were open only to graduates of the Police Academy.

Last month, 115 people graduated from PTIK.