President says govt studying future status of police force
President says govt studying future status of police force
JAKARTA (JP): In the wake of regional autonomy which came into
effect on Jan. 1 this year, the National Police will be offered
the opportunity to continue as either a centralized or
decentralized institution, President Abdurrahman Wahid said on
Wednesday.
"The government is considering the future status of the
National Police, in terms of whether it will remain a national
institution or be decentralized to regency, municipal or
provincial-level institutions," the President said while
officially inaugurating the monument of Gen. R.S. Soekanto
Tjokrodiatmodjo, the country's first National Police chief, at
the National Police headquarters here.
"But, whatever the government decides, it is mainly focused on
developing the police force's professionalism and honor."
Attending the ceremony were First Lady Sinta Nuriyah,
Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, National Police Chief Gen. Surojo
Bimantoro and several other high-ranking police officers.
The President, also known as Gus Dur, cited models developed
in Malaysia and Japan where police leadership remains centralized
under a national command.
He also cited the model applied in the United States and
several other countries where police forces are a component of
local administrations.
Following the ceremony, the President held a closed-door
meeting with all provincial police chiefs to discuss the
country's current security situation.
Separately, former National Police Deputy Chief for
Operational Affairs Insp. Gen. (ret) Koesparmono Irsan expressed
his disagreement with the idea of delegating the National
Police's authority to the regional level.
"Police are law enforcers who will always refer to national
laws. If authority of the police force is delegated to lower-
level police units the national laws must therefore be defined in
decrees of provincial or regional administrations," he told The
Jakarta Post by phone.
He said that with its status as a national institution, the
police force would find it easier to coordinate with regional
police offices when handling criminal cases.
He referred to the structure of the police force in the United
States.
"Although the American police are delegated into institutions
according to the country's states, the country still has the FBI
as its national police force. And so does Malaysia," he said.
He suggested that the government should not associate changes
to the national police force structure with changes being made as
a result of regional autonomy.
"The police force should remain a national institution," he
said, while proposing that freedom be given to regional police
offices to regulate regional security affairs.
He recalled that Indonesia was once a federated country (RIS),
but the police force was maintained as a national institution.
Koesparmono, who is also a member of the National Commission
on Human Rights, said there would be problems if control of the
police force were assigned to regional-level institutions, citing
welfare treatment and salary payment systems for police officers
as well as inter-regional crime management.
"The idea of changing the police's status is not as easy as
cutting cakes. The current government seems to be trying to find
a new model for the police which is different from that of the
previous government. Just look at the urgency of introducing a
new system," he said.
Similarly, criminologist at the University of Indonesia
Mulyana W. Kusumah said the National Police were much different
from the police forces in modern countries such as the United
States and Japan.
"The Indonesian police are not only responsible for
maintaining security and order in the country, but also elements
of criminal law enforcement," he said.
He said the National Police are still required.
"Regional authorities may use police officers as their
political instrument if the role of the police force is assigned
to regional-level institutions," he told the Post.
He said the National Police should be maintained as an
independent institution.
"It will not be effective if the responsibility for police
institutions are placed under regional administrations while
regional security affairs is still under the central government,"
he said. (01/edt)