Police Bill: Retirement Age for Non-Commissioned Officers Set at 59, Officers at 60

The House of Representatives (DPR) and the government have reached an agreement concerning changes to the retirement age for National Police members during the discussion of the Police Bill revision on Monday (8/6). During the working group meeting for the discussion of the Bill’s government memorandum, Deputy Minister of Law Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej explained the proposal to set the maximum retirement age for non-commissioned officers (Bintara and Tamtama) at 59 years. Meanwhile, junior, middle, and senior officers will have a maximum retirement age of 60 years. “Specifically for four-star generals, the maximum retirement age is 60 years, which can be extended by one year based on necessity as determined by a presidential decree,” said Hiarube, as he is commonly known.

I Wayan Sudirta, a member of Commission III of the DPR from the PDI Perjuangan faction, requested clarification from the Deputy Minister regarding this proposal. He noted that the draft previously prepared by the DPR set the retirement age for all police members—including non-commissioned and commissioned officers—at 60 years. “There is a reason, based on the facts on the ground, that we have an extraordinary shortage of non-commissioned officers, Sir. In several regions, police officers in villages are covering two or even three villages simultaneously,” said Wayan. “Why are we retiring them earlier when senior officers are even being extended to 60 or even longer?” he added.

Responding to this, Edward explained that the government intentionally differentiated the retirement age between non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers. He explained that if all police members had the same retirement age, it could potentially decrease the motivation for members to pursue further education. “If everything is equalised at 60, what actually happens is demotivation. Non-commissioned officers and Tamtama will say, ‘We don’t need to go to school for officer training if the retirement age is the same at 60’,” said Edward. Furthermore, he noted that the service period for non-commissioned officers, who generally begin service at age 18, would be significantly longer than that of officers if the retirement ages were equalised. “All civil servants have a gradation. Those of us from academic backgrounds, if not a doctor then a lecturer, finish at 60; doctors at 65, and professors at 70,” he remarked.

Edward also explained the reasons for rejecting the proposal to extend the retirement age for police members up to 63 years. According to him, the maximum age of 61 for four-star generals has taken into account the need for regeneration within the National Police. “Why not 63, but instead a maximum of only 61? This is a matter of regeneration within the National Police body,” he said. “Therefore, this is a sufficiently comprehensive consideration, looking at the workload and field conditions, which is why we have separated them into 59 and 60,” Edward continued. The Chairman of Commission III, Habiburokhman, then invited members to respond to the government’s proposal. Following the discussion, Habiburokhman approved the proposal, stating, “We shall follow the government’s lead,” while striking the gavel.