'Police should purge their ranks to fight drugs'
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta police, whose commitment to fighting drugs has been repeatedly emphasized, have ended up with egg on their faces following the recent death of a police officer from a drug overdose.
"Ironically, while the police reiterate their commitment to waging war on drugs, its officers have been found to be involved in drugs," Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) told The Jakarta Post last weekend.
Hendardi said that the police force needed to clean its ranks from any involvement in drug-related offenses before launching a war on drug-trafficking.
An officer from Jakarta Police Headquarters was rushed to the Husada Hospital in West Jakarta before dying of an overdose after consuming drugs at the Athena discotheque on Jl. Kali Besar, Tambora, West Jakarta, during the New Year's Eve celebrations.
Four other police officers are now being interrogated by the Military Police in connection with the incident.
The death took place only hours after Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara briefed reporters on the police's year-end report, reiterating the force's commitment to improving the professionalism of its officers by applying a "carrot and stick" approach.
He revealed that the police had dismissed 67 officers and suspended 40 others last year, with only four of these officers being implicated in drug cases. Most of the dismissed officers, 44 in total, were punished for desertion. But Makbul did not say if any of them had been brought before the courts.
Hendardi doubted that the number of police officers involved in drug-related crimes was so small, saying that many police officers provided protection for nightspots where illegal drugs were traded.
He accused the police of covering up for those of their colleagues involved in drug-related crimes so as to avoid further damage to the public's already poor perception of the force.
In its year-end report, the police force revealed that the number of drug cases had jumped significantly, up 44 percent to 2,642 cases last year from 1,831 cases in 2001.
Last year, the police succeeded to solving 2,571 cases implicating 2,703 suspects comprising 2,662 Indonesians and 41 foreigners. The police also seized 263 kilograms of marijuana, 143 kilograms of heroin, 55 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (shabu-shabu), 8.5 kilograms of cocaine, 4,985 ecstasy pills, and 5,321 other samples of additive substances.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo attributed the significant 44 percent increase to serious police attempts to detect and crack down on drug-trafficking.
"We are arresting not just the drug pushers, but also the large producers, like we did on New Year's Eve," said Prasetyo referring to a raid on a two-story shop-house belonging to one Aseng on Jl. Jembatan Tiga, Penjaringan, North Jakarta.
In the raid, the police seized 1,783 ecstasy pills and many kilograms of unprocessed substances.
But Hendardi had other ideas about the increase in the number of drug cases. He urged police to check whether the surge reflected a rising trend in drug crimes or demonstrated a weakening of the police's commitment to upholding the law.
"The police's launching of drug raids by inviting the press to cover them live won't help improve their already-tarnished image," Hendardi said, noting that such a practice could also nurture leaks from errant police officers to drug traffickers about planned raids.