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)