The National Police deal with their growing pains
By Yogita Tahil Ramani
JAKARTA (JP): The National Police turned 53 in July, usually an age of maturity and wisdom in a person's life. For the Indonesian police corps, being 53 means a continuing period of waiting for independence.
After 38 years as part of the country's armed forces (ABRI, later TNI), the police came under the Ministry of Defense and Security last April.
The police of the Republic of Indonesia was declared on Aug. 21, 1945. It was officially founded on July 1, 1946, Bhayangkara Day. From 1946 to 1961, the police were directly responsible to the head of state.
National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi reflects on the experience of the force over the years, and his expectations for the future. Former National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Togar M. Sianipar also answered one question about the prevailing public image of corrupt police officers. The following are excerpts of the interview:
Question:How could the National Police allow what happened during the mid-May riots in 1998? What actions did the police take to find out why it happened?
Answer: At that time, the National Police were not independent. The mechanism used, present in our body ... the body of ABRI at that time... it had been advisable for us then to use the forces of the Indonesian Military (TNI). Even today, after the separation from TNI, the mechanism still exists, which advises us to use the forces of TNI.
But please don't say that TNI led the security forces then.
If you're asking about the reported rapes during the mid-May riots, according to existing regulations, the police needed statements from witnesses, suspects and the victims themselves, before we could proceed with legal actions.
If a rape occurred, to prove that it occurred, the victim has to undergo a physical examination, and there has to be incriminating evidence taken for police investigation, for instance, torn panties.
We searched the capital. Not one woman was ready to admit that she had been raped. There were reasons. She was afraid of public exposure, a ruined life.
We went to Singapore after we heard that one was willing to give testimony in the incident. When we went there, that lady was gone. We heard another one had gone to Australia. We followed her there. She was gone, too.
I can say confidently that there is no way to continue a case, on the basis of opinion. There was really no evidence, at least nobody who would admit to us that there was in actual fact the occurrence of rapes.
Why weren't the police seen during the riots?
At that time, then city police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said that posting enough police officers anywhere in the capital was very, very difficult. The rioting was unstoppable. It happened on and on ... and I feel, our officers were exhausted.
At that time there were also officers who were not ready to go out into the field ... we were severely lacking in officers.
How did it all happen that way? Well, maybe I do know the serious problems then behind the May riots. One version was that it basically all boiled down to Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto (former Army Strategic Reserves commander) ... I don't want to talk about this.
You say you were lacking in officers. How are you going to afford any more on the paltry annual budget of the National Police?
We are facing a crisis ratio of one police officer for every 1,200 people. We are trying to bring it down to 1:1,000. Ideally, it needs to be 1:500, and that, too, has to be supported with technology. We cannot afford to have sad situations in so many provinces anymore, like a police officer not even having a motorcycle with vital communication equipment.
Cutting out the defense budget is out, because, any nation needs to have a strong force, in the form of forces, and equipment. You don't know how ashamed we, the National Police, felt when we found out that our forces were insufficient to deal with the people of East Timor.
Talking about salaries, nowhere in the world except in Indonesia is an Army officer's salary higher than a police officer's. And then people say the police are corrupt.
Do you know what my monthly salary is? A general's salary? I can't even say it. It is even more embarrassing when you convert it into dollars.
How do we plan to arrange one officer for every 1,000 people? Well, we educate 10,000 police officers every year, on the minimal budget we get. Our total police budget is much less than Rp 30 billion a year.
We plan to limit the span of education. Not more than six months for each officer, and adding more years to the police officers' mandatory age of retirement of 55, not 48, for noncommissioned police officers.
That's too much. Isn't that time-span too minimal? Shouldn't you prioritize their education, with at least nine months for each officer?
You say nine months. I don't think so. After six months of education, their performance could be appraised, after which they will try different majors for about a year, be it detectives, intelligence or traffic.
Maybe, after that, for instance, if a sergeant in detectives does really well, he could join the Military Academy (Akabri).
What about corruption? How do you think corruption could be curbed, if not eradicated, in the police? (answered only by Togar).
Corruption is a process which involves giving and taking. Meaning, to get something, there is the process of giving and receiving something. Don't only judge the National Police from a number of individuals, or even as an organization. Look at corruption, as interaction among people.
With the assumption that no country in the world is free of corruption, I think opportunities for corruption will always remain open. It depends on each individual.
And total police autonomy in matters of budget and personnel management will curb the possibilities of corruption.
Things like, for instance, the increase in rank usually gives satisfaction to a police officer, more than money itself could.
You see now that soon only colonels, or higher ranking officers, will be assigned as our police precinct chiefs. This will help the chief, with not only a larger number of officers to help control situations in the field, but also it will help him with a larger range of facilities, which a lieutenant colonel will not have under his command.
Don't only look at police corruption. Corruption happens because we are all people. Not everybody can say no to money.
Despite all the changes we intend to make in the police, there is no guarantee that the police itself will change.
How does the National Police feel about the Army taking opportunities directed for the National Police, may it be in the form of study courses or military equipment from foreign countries?
Again, we were under ABRI. Therefore, whatever help was directed from foreign countries to the National Police meant the military (Roesmanhadi laughs).
This was why, for instance, former city police chief Awaloeddin Djamin could not go to Germany, even when he was the one who received the recommendation to undergo training from GSG- 9, special German antiterrorist squad. Everybody knows who ended up going there.
Now that we are free, we are getting so many offers to the extent that we are being picky. For instance, in the case of detectives, we might send some distinguished officers to England or the U.S. And in the case of traffic, even the Netherlands.
You say you want to eradicate militarism from police education. What about the militant style, which explains our elite police force?
Militaristic education will be eradicated gradually, but never the militant style. In every developed nation, you have the militant police, like the forest police in Malaysia.
There are certain things that need to be dealt with by special, or what you call elite forces. Searches, terrorism, even raids.
What do you think of the law for the military?
In developed countries, there is no such thing. One system, one law for all citizens of the country. If a military officer is at fault, he has to be charged with the law that applies for every other citizen of the nation.
What about police not being able to conduct an investigation into a military officer?
That is the current law, and if we are to conduct an investigation into military officers, that law has to be rectified. If the National Police can't solve criminal cases that are in any way connected to TNI, it is not because we are not capable. It is the military police that is not capable, since it handles such cases.
Is the National Police, as the sole investigator, able to conduct an investigation into any sort of crime that comes under its jurisdiction.
No institution can do everything. Police sometimes says that detectives must be able to do this, do that ... that is not the case. Which is why we use experts. Like in the investigation of Bank Bali scandal, we used (economist) Pradjoto, and in former president Soeharto's alleged corruption, we invited (legal expert) Loebby Loqman.
What do you think of coordinating your tasks with, for instance, with the Ministry of Defense for preventive measures, with the Attorney General's Office for legal issues and the Ministry of Home Affairs for administrative issues?
This is something that has to be immediately straightened out, otherwise the tradition of ewuh pakewuh (deference to superiors) will never end. It is nonsense if the police say that it does not have any difference with the institutions it works with.
We want to be totally independent in everything we do. There has to be a law which clearly defines what is our job, and what are the jobs of the other law-enforcement institutions.
For instance, investigations into a corruption case. We can do it, and so can prosecutors. But when should the prosecutor do it, and when should the police?
Why do you think people prefer the Marines to police officers?
(Laughs for several moments) The marines like to be the popular guys. They go there (during unrest), say their hellos to the students on the streets. Our job is to stop the students from reaching the House of Representatives (DPR). We take care of security.
Window: Not everybody can say no to money. Despite all the changes we intend to make in the police, there is no guarantee that the police itself will change.
If the National Police can't solve criminal cases that are in any way connected to TNI, it is not because we are not capable.