The National Police deal with their growing pains

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.