National Police Chief: Posting Officers Outside Structure Must Be Based on Request

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo has stated that the placement of police personnel outside the police structure must be based on a request from a ministry or institution and cannot be carried out arbitrarily. He made the statement in response to concerns from civil society regarding the deployment of police officers outside the force. “In principle, the National Police have rules regarding the placement of personnel outside the structure. The requirement is that there must be a request from the ministry that wants a police officer,” Sigit said after the ratification of the Police Bill into law at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Tuesday (9/6). Sigit said the placement must also obtain approval from the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB). “It must follow an open bidding or merit system. So it is not that the police directly place someone, but this process must be followed, so it is not arbitrary,” he said. Sigit said the police would not send its members to external institutions if there was no request. “I think that clarifies what was asked by civil society. So if there is no request, the police will also not send anyone,” he said. The placement of police members outside the structure is regulated in Article 28A of the Police Law. The article explains that police members may fill positions outside the organisation of the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia as long as it is related to police functions. Positions outside the police organisation related to police functions are managerial or non-managerial positions in ministries/institutions that administer governmental affairs or tasks in the fields of maintaining public security and order; protection, safeguarding, and service to the community; and law enforcement.