Police need to thaw cold relations with public

By Adrianus Meliala

JAKARTA (JP): During the recent graduation ceremonies of military and police academy cadets, President Abdurrahman Wahid stressed that all graduates should be more aware of the situation surrounding the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police (Polri).

Since both have been constantly condemned for their past mistakes, followed by demands to eradicate their involvement in politics and business, it would be wise to remind anybody enrolling in TNI or Polri at this time to be more careful.

Is it to late to make graduates of the police academy -- young second lieutenants -- realize the reality, in terms of how distant the police are from society? It seems so, for by now they would have been in the military-structured academy for three years, and would have enjoyed being part of a very powerful institution. They have already absorbed all the doctrines, values and procedures -- many of which are no longer valid.

Nevertheless, it would be better late than never. Polri's new position as a civilian organization outside of TNI promises big changes. Among the initial and urgent projects prepared by the police headquarters are revision in its educational system and methods.

It is believed that the source of the wide gap between the police and the public it is supposed to protect starts from the police education of new personnel. The military-like system and values in police education have been blamed as a source of public resentment, and must be scrapped in anticipation of the police standing on its own two feet.

Following the end of its relations with all elements related to TNI, the public will still have to wait for 10 years or more to feel the result of the changes being initiated. But there is no guarantee that what is being done today will have any success. Indeed, civilianizing the police cannot be undertaken in a radical manner.

When the National Police joined the armed forces in the mid 1960s, the military structure and administration slowly took over Polri. Even militaristic values came to be part of the police. As a newcomer in the armed forces, Polri was clearly weak in resistance and became the "military in police uniform" rather than the contrary.

One result of this combination gave birth to the paradox of what was expected of the police: trigger-happy police officers, brutality in criminal investigations, widespread corruption and a dire lack of upholding legal supremacy. Other characteristics of Polri so far are the strict (but dumb) loyalty to defend a superior's political interests and the vulnerability to intervention, mainly by the military and powerful elements in society.

In short, during the 32 years under Soeharto, Polri was denied its role as a sensitive police organization, in the sense of dedication to the public. Instead, the police blinded itself to public interest, and together with its "old brother", the Army, the police did what they could to defend Soeharto's regime until his last days in power.

A clear indication of the relationship between the police and the public is the arson attacks on about 250 police offices in the last four years. This is glaring evidence of the inability of the police to understand what the public actually wants in terms of handling and resolving cases.

The police force has claimed it is starting to change, and has asked the public to help in its transitional period of total severance from the military. The police force formally separated from the armed forces on April 1, 1999.

The around 350 second lieutenants recently inaugurated by President Abdurrahman Wahid are the first generation of academy graduates who accepted part of the new version of police curriculum, as the new curriculum was only enforced this year.

A few fields in which the old militaristic curriculum was unsuitable to police work were military training, guerrilla warfare training and hours of parade exercises.

In a lengthy, focused discussion in mid-1999 with a group of cadets before they finished courses, this writer saw indications that, after two years of studying under the old curriculum and another year studying under the new one, this generation has developed a specific police occupational-related culture developed by other graduates.

It is suspected that when this revised curriculum interacts with existing values, symbols and group commitments, which are still alive in the police community, this produces a "hidden curriculum".

"Observing the public as an object of policing" is just one value of this informal curriculum (Sarwono, Meliala, Parsudi, 1999). Its implementation varies, and is reflected in officers' arrogant behavior, unfounded charges against civilians and the use of excessive force. Put simply, these police cadets still have the potential to be insensitive officers when they resume service.

The introduction of a probational period is one breakthrough in the new curriculum. It is hoped that during the probation all cadets will stop believing they are different from society and are hence entitled to privileges.

In this program, these young second lieutenants will not be given positions enabling them to be commanding officers. Instead, they will have to help other officers, including sergeants on the job. One high-ranking officer explained, "let them feel how hard it is to be a rank-and-file officer who experiences sweat, blood and tears when handling what the public expects from them. It is hoped this will make them wiser when assigned as commandant."

While efforts are ongoing to sensitize the police in the face of the aforementioned constraints, hopefully the next generation of cadets will be trained under the completely revised curriculum.

Since this initial one-year period is regarded as an apprenticeship period, there is a possibility of failure among cadets, with a consequence of demotion. As this new rule basically extends academic life within the academy to four years, some will no doubt complain. But for their own sake and that of the public they will later serve, it is better to postpone their assignment for a year rather than produce more insensitive officers.

The writer is a criminologist at the University of Indonesia, Depok, and coauthor of a number of books on the police.