Police Academy berated over shortcomings
SURABAYA (JP): A retired police officer has criticized the Police Academy for failing to produce officers with enough expertise to cope with complex crimes.
"Garbage in, garbage out," Maj. Gen. Koesparmono Irsan, a former deputy to the national police chief for operational affairs, told a seminar on police professionalism on Saturday.
"The amount of garbage in at the Police Academy and training centers is unbelievable. You can imagine the amount of garbage out," he said.
Irsan, who is currently rector of a police university in Jakarta, said he had experienced the problem first-hand. "There was a student from a school for the intellectually handicapped, another who didn't know English, and yet another who died during training because he hadn't passed health tests.
"Those students entered the academy through some powerful connections," he said.
Irsan questioned the curriculum of the Police Academy. "There's too little discussion on law, and there is too much on the history and role of the Armed Forces.
"There's also more than enough discussion on social politics, despite the fact that knowledge of law is much more necessary for the work of any policeman," he said.
The seminar, attended by police officers and journalists, discussed how crime in future would be more organized, and how there would be more "white collar" crime.
"Police must be more professional and independent," Irsan said.
Legal expert J.E. Sahetapy seconded most of Irsan's opinions, but stressed the need for an independent national police force, free from the Armed Forces. He also said the police needed more financial support and laws to regulate them.
He said the police should be able to decide independently what constituted a crime and what did not, without the dictation of any other power.
Sahetapy said the police force must get more funding to become cleaner and more professional.
"There's a great amount of unnecessary financing in this country which could be given to the police," he said, citing the purchase of secondhand ships and the aircraft industry as examples of wasted funding.
He said the police should be equipped with appropriate laws, citing the recent police crackdown against widespread Ecstacy abuse and trafficking, which had been unsuccessful because of inadequate laws.
"Some police arrest traders and users of Ecstasy, but other institutions will release them just like that," he said.
"Increasing the number of policemen or giving stiffer punishment against criminals doesn't solve the problem, because crime now pays," he said.
Irsan said that increasing the size of the police force would resolve little: "With the ratio of one policeman to almost 2,000 people in Indonesia, it would be okay if the police were professional and had adequate equipment," he said. (29)