To Save Face, Unscrupulous Persons Offered

Kompas

Didie SW

The police are the spearhead of the law enforcement system and the guards to maintain order in almost all dimensions of life. Starting from the reporting of violations of the law to the matter of driving vehicles, therefore it is important to talk about how the police carry out their duties.

The hashtag #percumalaporpolisi (#notgoingtousethepolice) has undoubtedly appeared with reason. Not only because of the disclosure that NW committed suicide because she was raped and forced to have abortions by a police officer in East Java, and the case where police were not responsive in dealing with complaints of rape in East Luwu, South Sulawesi, but frustration seems to have peaked because people often witness bad behavior by the police.

The problem is that the National Police are continuing the bad habits inherited from the New Order government, which labeled members of the police who violated the law as "unscrupulous persons". In Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (The Big Indonesian Dictionary), "unscrupulous persons" means individuals or elements, used often with the intention to separate offenders from their institution. Individuals can be punished and expelled from the institution to make the organization look good as the troublemaking element has been removed. As a result, no institutional reform ever gets carried out.

Read also:

> There Is Still Much Room for the Polri to Improve

> National Police’s Challenge in Maintaining Public Image

In terms of violence, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) recorded that between June 2020 and May 2021, there were at least 651 cases of violence carried out by the National Police. The most common type of violence was shooting, which left 13 people dead and 98 injured. This also has to be combined with reports on the handling of demonstrations, which are often colored by violence, as seen with the circulation of a video where a student protester was slammed to the floor by a police officer. With regard to corruption, there were at least four major cases. The BNI burglary case in 2006, the 2011 tax case of Gayus Tambunan, the 2012 driving license simulator case and the Joko Tjandra 2020 travel permit case. There are many stories about experiences like this, but people are often afraid to discuss them openly.

In order to unravel the problems in the police, it is a must to look at its history. The National Police developed out of an institution that gained legitimacy for its power from the authorities and was established to protect the authorities, not the citizens. In 1620, when parts of the archipelago were controlled by the VOC, Bailluw, a kind of security unit to protect Dutch companies and people, was established. We can also go back to the Majapahit era, which inspired the use of the word Bhayangkara (elite police force). However, the origin of the modern police force was the police body during the colonial era, which was adopted as the National Police in 1945.

KOMPAS/SUPRIYANTO

Supriyanto

Through the Law on the Police No. 13 of 1961, the Police Department was established. The department was responsible for the president and was part of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia (ABRI), which carried out the dual-function doctrine. Consequently, the character of the National Police as law enforcers faded and their security character strengthened. The perspective of protecting the rulers existed for decades until the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) issued Decree No. VI/MPR/2000, which administered the separation between the Indonesian Military and the National Police as a reform mandate.

Afterward, Law No. 2/2002 on the National Police was issued. Bambang Widodo Umar in 2008 recorded that the formation of the National Police Law was not followed by a revision of the Criminal Law Procedure Code as the basis for the organization and competence of the National Police. As a result, there has been confusion in the roles of the police and the prosecutor's office in law enforcement, which has also led to law enforcement remaining more intensely colored by devotion to the authorities.

Democratic policing requires four things. First, prioritizing services for all citizens, not just certain groups. Second, being responsible to the law, not to the authorities.

Police who are characterized by protecting the interests of the authorities usually occur in totalitarian countries (Umar, 2008). For a democratic country, there should instead be democratic policing. Democratic policing requires four things. First, prioritizing services for all citizens, not just certain groups. Second, being responsible to the law, not to the authorities. Third, protecting human rights, especially for the rights needed in a democratic country. Fourth, being transparent in all activities (Bayley, 2001).

These four parameters are only the starting point for the long and serious discussion to continue police reform. One thing that is clear is that it should not be the unscrupulous persons who are put forward to the people to represent the police's mistakes, but the road map for the police reform.

Kompas

Bivitri Susanti

BIVITRI SUSANTI, Lecturer at Jentera Indonesian Law College

(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo)