Novianti Setuningsih, Jakarta – Commemorating the 78th anniversary of the National Police or Bhayangkara Day, Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS) police observer Bambang Rukminto has highlighted the huge amount of authority held by the Indonesian National Police (Polri).
According Rukminto, this authority is often co-opted by the political interests of power and certain groups including private corporations. "(These interests) are certainly at odds with the interests of the ordinary people as legal owners of the state”, Rukminto told Kompas.com on Monday July 1.
Yet, he emphasised that Polri, which was reborn after the 1998 reform movement through the abolition of the Armed Forces’ (ABRI) dwi-fungsi (dual social and political function), should be an institution that protects, safeguards and serves the public.
"In concert with current developments, instead of becoming a professional national police force as is hoped for by the public, Polri has instead moved away from the 1998 reform vision", said Rukminto.
He also linked the problems that are occurring in the National Police with the leadership which is not firm and too tolerant of violations committed by officers.
"The problems that are occurring in the National Police organisation, are triggered because of indecisive leadership, slow responses related to issues that develop in society, permissive or tolerant of violations by its personnel”, said Rukminto
"And there have been many violations of Article 28 of Law Number 2/2002 [on the Indonesian Police] by placing active generals outside the [police’s] structure [in civilian posts] which remind the public of the practice of dwi-fungsi in the era before the 1998 reforms", he continued.
Then, Rukminto said this situation has been further exacerbated because the government and the legislative body as supervisors in fact allow violations of the National Police Law.
As has been reported, the 78th Bhayangkara Day commemoration ceremony was held at the National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta on Monday, with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo acting as the ceremonial inspector.
Earlier, the National Police’s performance was in the public spotlight over an investigation into the murder of Vina Dewi Arsita and her male companion, Muhammad Rizky or Eki, in Cirebon, West Java.
The reason being that the case that has been put on ice for eight years was suddenly reopened over a number of irregularities.
Not to mention the case of the alleged mistreatment of a 13-year-old boy by police officers in Padang, West Sumatra, leading to the death of Afif Maulana.
This was followed by a report by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) which found that there were 645 incidents of violence committed by the National Police between July 2023 and June 2024.
"645 incidents of violence causing 754 injuries and 38 deaths", Kontras Coordinator Dimas Bagus Arya said during a press conference at the Kontras offices in Kwitang, Central Jakarta, on Monday.
Of the 645 incidents, the police at the district level (Polres) were the main institutional actor with 421 incidents, followed by the Sectoral Police (Polsek) with 124 incidents and the Regional Police (Polda) with 96 incidents of violence.
"The unit most involved in violence is the criminal detective unit with 341 incidents, this shows the majority of the documented incidents of violence occurred in the context of actions against suspects or suspected perpetrators of criminal acts”, Arya said.
According to Arya, the violence committed may well be in order to carry out their duties, especially in the context of law enforcement.
However, Kontras noted that the use of violence and firearms must be carried out with measurable and clear standards in accordance with National Police Chief Regulation Number 1/2009.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was " Hari Bhayangkara Ke-78, "Polri Menjauh dari Visi Reformasi 1998"".]
