National Police Commission: Urine Tests a Gateway to Preventing Drug Involvement Among Police Personnel
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Police Commission (Kompolnas) considers urine testing to be one of the key preventive measures against Indonesian National Police (Polri) personnel becoming involved in drug cases.
“I believe urine testing is one of the good mechanisms and we support such testing for all members,” said Kompolnas member Mochammad Choirul Anam when contacted by ANTARA in Jakarta on Monday.
Meanwhile, from a law enforcement perspective, Anam assessed that severe and firm sanctions combined with transparent processes represent the appropriate steps to eradicate drugs within the police force.
“This includes simultaneous sanctions involving ethical action by colleagues at Polri’s Professional and Security Division (Propam) and criminal action by colleagues at the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim). That is the effective remedy,” he added.
To make enforcement more effective, he said, Polri must also uncover the networks of drug offenders involved.
“Drugs are a networked crime involving goods, but also people, so it must be uncovered — who the people are, where the goods are, how much there is, and where,” he said.
Furthermore, the former National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) member expressed appreciation for Polri’s proactive efforts in identifying personnel violations in drug cases.
He noted that the alleged drug possession case ensnaring former Bima City Police Chief Senior Commissioner Didik Putra Kuncoro originated from Polri’s proactive efforts to take action against errant personnel.
“Because if the police were not proactive, if the police did not attempt to uncover various internal cases, a case like the Bima one would never have come to light,” he said.
Therefore, he continued, Kompolnas supports Polri’s clean-up efforts regarding drug cases, both through preventive measures such as urine testing and law enforcement action.
It is understood that Polri’s Professional and Security Division (Divpropam) will conduct simultaneous urine tests across police personnel ranks following ongoing cases of drug abuse by police members.
Head of the Public Information Bureau of Polri’s Public Relations Division, Brigadier General Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko, affirmed that the urine testing represents Polri’s commitment to preventing further drug cases by prioritising pre-emptive measures.
“This is a manifestation of commitment to oversight, pre-emptive action, detection, and if there are cases — once again — this is already an example of commitment to taking firm action,” he said.