Rusdihardjo wants an end to political intervention

Rusdihardjo wants an end to political intervention

JAKARTA (JP): Newly installed National Police chief Lt. Gen.
Rusdihardjo urged the nation on Friday to no longer allow any
parties to intervene in police work for their own benefit.

In his speech, marking the official handover of his new post
from his predecessor, Gen. Roesmanhadi, Rusdihardjo underlined
that police in every democratic nation should be independent in
carrying out their task of upholding and protecting human rights.

"History has taught us the fact that police who are influenced
by other interests outside of the law, particularly political
interests, are always forced to use power as a tool.

Consequently, the public sees the police more as an oppressor
than a law upholder, and more as a political tool than a public
servant," Rusdihardjo said during the ceremony at the National
Police Mobile Brigade Headquarters in Kelapa Dua, south of
Jakarta.

The ceremony was attended by hundreds of guests, including
scores of active and retired top-brass police and military staff.

Rusdihardjo reminded all of his some 187,000 police personnel
nationwide of the ongoing strong public criticism of the force.

"The people have reacted to our behavior. They have protested
against us, insulted us, acted brutally towards our officers in
the field and even damaged the National Police Headquarters," he
said.

Rusdihardjo, however, did not clarify what he said about
damage to the police headquarters on Jl. Trunojoyo in South
Jakarta; there have been no reports so far about the headquarters
becoming a target for violent demonstrations.

However, in January 1996, the headquarters, including the
office of the National Police chief, was razed by fire. No
official information about the cause of the fire has ever been
disclosed.

In his speech, Rusdihardjo, who was once chief of the National
Police detectives, urged all police personnel to change their
"authoritarian and militaristic" attitude.

"If we carry on this way, people will end up totally rejecting
the credibility of the police as security enforcers."

Disciplinary

In order to build a totally independent and professional
police force, the three-star general also vowed to take stiff
measures against any undisciplined officers.

"The priorities will be officers who deviate from their jobs
as investigators and those who free suspected criminals after
receiving bribes," Rusdihardjo said.

The poor performance of the police, he said, could also be
seen from the growing lack of public trust in the force.

People, for example, increasingly showed no intent to hand
over suspected criminals to the police, but, rather, preferred to
take the law into their own hands by brutally punishing them.

"These are very clear indications that tell us that we need to
develop ourselves as a force," he said.

In his remarks, which revealed his dreams for a brand new
Indonesian police force with a good image, Rusdihardjo also
repeated his plan to develop the capability of police detectives
nationwide.

Detective development would be one of his top priorities in
the next budget.

"We are coming close to 200,000 criminal cases a year. We have
only 13,000 detectives. From these personnel, only one third can
investigate independently," he said.

Rusdihardjo added that due to lack of police personnel and
equipment, the police force has had to depend on the military to
handle social conflicts.

"We have to depend on the military, even as we realize that
the use of the military in matters of security, particularly
social conflicts, is regarded as less than acceptable in a civil
society," Rusdihardjo said.

"It can even lower the credibility of our nation and
international trust in it, which has a bad effect, both
politically and economically."

Among the guests at Friday's ceremony were former National
Police chiefs Gen. (ret) Awaloeddin Djamin and Gen. (ret)
Banurusman, and Indonesian Military Chief of Staff Gen. Tyasno
Sudarto.

When asked to comment on Rusdihardjo's speech, Banurusman
expressed his strong support and suggested Rusdihardjo, among
other things, revise existing Law No. 28/1997 on the function and
position of the National Police.

"We cannot tolerate any more interventions, particularly from
the military. This has to be straightened out by law," Banurusman
said. (ylt)