Police need greater powers, says analyst
Police need greater powers, says analyst
JAKARTA (JP): A good police force will remain a dream unless
public appreciation of the police improves, says an analyst.
Police need greater authority as well as clearer rules to
carry out their daily duties, analyst Satjipto Rahardjo said on
Tuesday.
Other essential steps are improving the welfare of police
officers and educating the public about the job of the police, he
said.
By doing so, the public who now see the police as an enemy can
change their point of view, he said at a one-day discussion to
launch a series of two books containing newspapers clippings
entitled Merenungi Kritik Terhadap Polri (Musing about Criticism
against Police). The series was compiled by Gen. (ret) Kunarto, a
former National Police chief.
"If nothing changes, the war between the public and the police
will never end," said Satjipto, who is also a lecturer at the
police college.
Significant measures must be taken immediately, he said.
The other reviewers of the book were political analyst Harry
Tjan Silalahi, chief editor of Forum newsweekly Karni Ilyas and
another former National Police chief, Gen. (ret) Awaloedin
Djamin, who is now dean of the police college.
Kunarto said that the police and the public tend to be
antagonistic. "The officers want the people to follow them but
the people do not want to be directed," he said.
This can only be solved if the police were more professional
and the public more understanding.
Awaloedin said the bad image began with high-ranking officers
abusing their power over junior officers.
"A police general, for example, has no right to order a
captain to arbitrarily stop an investigation for illogical
reasons. They both have the same right to carry out their jobs,"
said Awaloedin.
The government is also obliged to provide greater chances and
fair rules to the police in order to allow the police to work
professionally and effectively, he said.
"We all know that the number of challenges and jobs is
increasing while the number of police personnel remains
unchanged," said Kunarto, who was known to be an outspoken
officer.
Sharing Satjipto's opinion, Kunarto said; "If we all want to
have good police, lower-ranking officers must be treated better."
Karni Ilyas, underlining Awaloedin's statements, said that the
public must realize that not only police officers do wrong.
"A low-ranking officer who has just collected bribe money from
traffic violators on the street, sometimes bribe journalists,"
said Karni.
Awaloedin also queried the government's policy of not issuing
the police with a clear mandate to handle several political,
environmental and human rights cases.
According to Kunarto, who is now a senior staff member at the
Supreme Audit Agency, the compilation of critical newspaper
clippings is only meant to remind the police to improve.
"The abundant criticism against the police and the dilemmatic
position of the police, which has led to professional deficiency,
inspired me to muse about the problems through the books," said
Kunarto.
The 503 and 481 page books are published by Cipta Manunggal.
Consisting of 196 articles, photos and cartoons from 27
newspapers and magazines, the books are scheduled to be sold to
public. The price has yet to be announced. (bsr)