Police hit back, branding recent criticism as unfair
Police hit back, branding recent criticism as unfair
JAKARTA (JP): A senior police officer said yesterday criticism
describing the force's image as at its lowest ebb was baseless
and like a terror to the police.
National Police Spokesman Brig. Gen. Nurfaizi said the
criticism, voiced by experts after allegations of police
brutality sparked last week's Tasikmalaya riot, generalized the
issue.
"It seems that all 180,000 police across the country are bad
officers. Such criticism contributes nothing significant toward a
solution," he said referring to a report in Friday's The Jakarta
Post.
Critics said the police's credibility had further deteriorated
after the Tasikmalaya riot which killed at least three people and
damaged and gutted several buildings.
The critics included Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), Satjipto Rahardjo, a law professor
and member of the National Commission on Human Rights and Former
national police chief Gen. (ret.) Kunarto.
"Never before in the New Order period has the police's image
been like it is now," Kristiadi said.
It has now got much worse than ever, Kunarto said.
Satjipto said "the National Police may proclaim to be a modern
and professional force but the reality in the field is far from
that."
Nurfaizi said police were not allergic to criticism if it was
correct and constructive.
"We really appreciate the critics but why didn't they let us
know before they revealed their opinions to the public," the one-
star general said.
"They should have realized that their publicly-announced
conclusion would affect the work of the good officers, whose
number is much, much larger than the bad ones," he said.
Like many institutions there are also crooks in the police
force, he said.
"If found guilty, we immediately kick them off the force. And
we have done it," he said.
Over the past few years the police have made significant
improvements to meet the public service's standards and have
scientific criminal investigation, he said.
"So, how can people made such a generalization after only
reading one or two disgraceful cases and concluded that our image
was pretty poor," Nurfaizi said.
He suggested the critics conduct an in-depth study or
investigation before making such a shallow conclusion.
"In the case of Tasikmalaya, for instance, they should have
known the whole story, starting from the beginning," he said.
Nurfaizi said it was not the incident between the four police
officers and the three santri (a traditional Islamic school
student) that sparked the riot.
"It's rumor saying that one of the santri was killed by the
police was what made the local people angry," he said.
He said senior local police had earlier offered an apology to
Moslem boarding school staff for the incident and both sides had
agreed to close the case.
He said the incident began when a police corporal punched a
santri who the officer believed had improperly treated his son, a
student at the boarding school.
"If the public and critics want us to be a superman, a hero
that can do no wrong, please help us in a right and proper way.
We want to be perfect, " he said.
Despite lingering problems the national police has vowed to
meet public demands that it become more professional, he said.
"However, without active cooperation from the public, we can
do nothing," Nurfaizi said. (bsr)