'Police should get higher salaries'

The Jakarta Police are the largest and most prestigious police force in the country. However, many residents look at the crime and traffic in Greater Jakarta and wonder just what it is the police do to serve the community. In conjunction with the Jakarta Police's 55th anniversary on Dec. 6, The Jakarta Post asked some residents for their opinion on the police.

Prawinoto, 32, is a freelance writer. He lives in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta:

It is strange that the presence of police officers can sometimes make me feel uncomfortable. It's not that I have done something wrong, but it's a poorly kept secret that the police, especially the traffic police, can easily make trouble for you.

However, I think the Jakarta Police are now more open and professional compared with how they served the public five years ago. At least, I often hear about traffic police officers who refuse to take bribes. Some of them, not all.

I think officers have to become more professional if they are to serve the public.

The first thing they should do is improve the welfare of officers. I believe that with higher salaries and better facilities, the police would not moonlight, extort money or accept bribes.

Yuni, 28, works as a translator for a company in Central Jakarta. She lives with her family in Depok:

I personally never encounter any problems with the police, but I have heard stories about their bad attitude from my brother.

Once, when he was driving with his fiancee, a traffic policeman stopped him and took out a ticket book.

The officer asked for Rp 300,000 (some US$33) to settle the matter and made a racial remark -- an insult, actually -- about my brother, who he thought was Chinese.

And the Depok Police reprimand the drivers of public minivans who stop outside designated stops, while ignoring the firecracker vendors who spill out onto the road during the fasting month.

I think this is discriminatory.

--The Jakarta Post