Alarming Calls over Law Enforcement

A national survey by Kompas shows that the level of public satisfaction with law enforcement has declined considerably. The most substantial drop is evident in the aspect of equal treatment by law enforcement officers.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Motorcycle riders passed mural with theme of law enforcment in South Tangerang, Banten, Tuesday (1/2/2022). The survey conducted by Kompas research and development division showed the decline of public satisfaction related to law enforcement.

The level of public satisfaction with the government's performance in law enforcement has touched its lowest point during the administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The many major cases related to law enforcement over the past three months, coupled with unresolved perennial problems, have eroded public appreciation toward law supremacy.

The survey was conducted by the daily’s research and development division this month, which showed public satisfaction with law enforcement was experienced only by 51.5 percent of the respondents. It was a six percent drop within three months from the last survey in June.

The attitude of respondents who are economically more established appeared to be more critical in their scrutiny of the situation.

Dissatisfaction was voiced quite evenly across all income brackets. In the low to lower middle class, the satisfaction rate was around 59 percent. Meanwhile, the attitude of respondents who are economically more established appeared to be more critical in their scrutiny of the situation, with only 54 percent of them being appreciative of law enforcement.

To almost all aspects of law enforcement, the respondents largely gave negative responses. In detail, of the five scrutinized aspects, only one received a satisfaction level above 50 percent. Such longitudinal results were unprecedented in seven surveys conducted by Kompas.

While the aspect of guaranteeing equal treatment by law enforcement officers to citizens saw the most substantial decline, the aspect of equality before law dropped by 10 percent to 45 percent, compared to the results in June. It was the lowest percentage in the series of surveys since August 2020.

The survey showed the respondents’ view of legal justice was highly influenced by the level of their economic wellbeing. Almost 80 percent of those who expressed dissatisfaction with this aspect belonged to the low and lower-middle income group. This explains why people with lower economic wellbeing might feel insecure about the low integrity and impartiality shown by law enforcement officers.

Judging by achievement, the satisfaction rating for bribery eradication occupied the lowest position.

In addition to law impartiality, the aspects of human rights violations, bribery eradication and legal-case transactions, as well as the corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) also showed a sizeable decrease in people’s satisfaction in their actions. These indicators of law implementation decreased by seven to eight percent.

Judging by achievement, the satisfaction rating for bribery eradication occupied the lowest position. The survey results showed that only about a third of the respondents said they felt satisfied. With the satisfaction level being around 33 percent, this aspect would be the most crucial to be addressed in the future.

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In the midst of negative public perceptions regarding the performance of law enforcement, the aspect of legal case accomplishment received fairly satisfactory rating, with 55 percent of respondents giving their appreciation. It can be said that the public was generally satisfied with the performance of law enforcement officers in treating various criminal cases, such as robbery, gambling and drug abuse.

Institutional image

The low satisfaction in law enforcement appeared in parallel with people’s attitude toward the law-enforcing institutions. The four institutions related to law enforcement, which are National Police, Supreme Court, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the prosecutor's office, all endured image degradation to an alarming level.

The National Police was a law enforcing institution that deteriorated in image quite substantially, as the survey showed. In the span of three months from the previous survey, people’s trust in the police institution dropped by more than 17 percent. With only 49 percent of the respondents still being confident about the police, the survey results are a warning that the reform carried out by the police has had an insignificant impact on the majority of the public.

Albeit slightly better, a similar perception was shown to the Supreme Court (MA) and the Attorney General's Office, which experienced a decrease by 10.2 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively. The positive image for the AGO and the Supreme Court were both at 52 percent. The KPK experienced a relatively subtle decline. At 56 percent, the image of this institution slipped down by 1.1 percent.

Triggering events

In general, the public's disappointment in law enforcement has built up notably in the past year. Previously, the level of satisfaction with law enforcement work hovered quite consistently between 63 and 64 percent on average. It even reached its highest point in the survey held early this year, which was 65.9 percent.

The public’s negative perception is most likely to have been instigated by a series of events in the past few months. First is the murder case of Brigadier J or Yosua Nofriansyah Hutabarat, which is implicating Ferdy Sambo, a discharged inspector general and former head of the police internal affairs. This has added gravity to public dissatisfaction with law enforcement performance.

This decrease in public satisfaction level should be a wake-up call for the government.

The recent deadly and harrowing Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster in Malang, East Java, shocked the public. As many as 134 people died in the incident, which was blamed partly on the security apparatus’ repressive approach in responding to the unruly football fans. Hardly had public attention faded over the two tragedies, when Insp. Gen. Teddy Minahasa, former West Sumatra police chief who was bound to take over his new post as East Java police chief, was arrested for his alleged involvement in a drug case.

Meanwhile, the KPK detained Supreme Court justice Sudrajad Dimyati and several employees on 23 Sept. for an alleged bribery case in this law enforcement institution.

These big legal infringement cases might appear to be the tip of the iceberg of ill-natured law enforcement in Indonesia. Underneath, there are perennial structural problems that might come up any time. Indications of these problems are at times readable from scattered hashtags of dissatisfaction voiced by netizens on social media.

This decrease in public satisfaction level should be a wake-up call for the government. Every institution must humbly be willing to admit they still have much work to do to serve the public. The pathetic performance in law enforcement will remain the stumbling block to the government's administration, unless changes are seriously pursued. (LITBANG KOMPAS)

This article was translated by Musthofid.