Planned hike in police funds gets cool response

JAKARTA (JP): The National Police Headquarters' decision to raise the funding for operational duties starting in the 1994- 1995 fiscal year is getting a cool response from City Police officers.

"The plan is welcome but is there any guarantee that field officers will receive the funds uncut?" a detective who wanted to remain anonymous asked the Jakarta Post Saturday.

The pessimism was echoed by another police officer.

The officers were commenting on the announcement made by National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman on Friday during the Bhayangkara 48th police force anniversary here that field officers will get a larger amount of operational funds.

According to the plan, field officers will receive Rp 350,000 (US$163) in operational funds for tackling each serious criminal case, compared to the current Rp 50,000 ($23.2). They will get Rp 150,000 ($69.8) for investigating moderately serious criminal cases, compared to the current Rp 25,000 ($11.6).

The amount of funding for the tackling of a minor criminal case, which is at present set at Rp 5,000 ($2.3), has yet to be decided.

"We are now determining which kinds of crimes can be classified as serious, moderate and minor," Gen. Banurusman said.

The four-star general added that the policy will be applied retroactively, starting in the 1994/1995 fiscal year, which began last April.

Banurusman said the increased budget is expected to enable police officers to be solve crimes more readily.

Many officers often blame their failure to quickly capture criminals and their occasional reluctance to tackle criminal cases reported by the public on the limited operational budgets.

They prefer to investigate crimes whose victims are well-to-do people, who are willing to help finance the investigation.

Patrolling officers also often express anxiety about the amount of gasoline allocated for them -- four liters per motorbike, six liters per car per day -- which they consider inadequate.

The general admitted to hearing such complaints from field officers, but said:" So far, the amount of gasoline has not hampered operations."

Another officer told the Post the funding, if increased, would not be very helpful if the it were not disbursed to field officers quickly.

"Now, we often fail to quickly capture criminals because the funds come belatedly. Thereby, we often have to use our own money first. But, the problem is the detectives do not always have enough cash in their pockets," he said.

The officer proposed that all detectives be provided with credit cards so that they can move on any investigation quickly. (jsk)