T

he National Police (Polri) and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday signed an agreement that will allow the two institutions to jointly clamp down on gratuities received by police officers.

Under the agreement, every police officer is obliged to report gratuities to their respective police precincts, regional police offices or the National Police within 30 days after being received. The National Police would then compile a report on the receipts of gratuity and submit them to the KPK.

National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said that the cooperation would give a much-needed boost to the police'€™s efforts in improving their professionalism and transparency.

'€œThe National Police'€™s General Supervision Inspectorate [Irwasum] will coordinate those reports with the KPK director for gratuities, who will later verify and decide whether those gratuities should be returned to the givers or confiscated by the state,'€ he said after the signing ceremony at the police'€™s headquarters in South Jakarta.

Sutarman said that the agreement was the first step toward eradicating corruption within the force.

'€œWith this system, we expect to eradicate all forms of irregularities committed by police personnel, working both in the service and the law enforcement division,'€ Sutarman said.

The police chief also encouraged his subordinates to decline gratuities given at their children'€™s weddings.

'€œIf needed, they should write on the invitation that '€˜we don'€™t accept any form of gifts'€™,'€ he said.

According to the 2001 Anti-Corruption Law, gratuities include money, gifts, discounted prices, fees, interest-free loans, travel, hotel facilities, free medication and other facilities provided to public or state officials. If found guilty of accepting a gratuity, officials can face a maximum of 20 years'€™ imprisonment and Rp 1 billion (US$85,624) in fines.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, KPK chairman Abraham Samad pointed out the need for a campaign to increase awareness about gratuities among police officers, as he said many of them had little knowledge on the subject.

'€œMany police officers have not fully grasped the information on the required steps for handling gratuities. For instance, the law stipulates that if a gratuity goes unreported for 30 days after being received, it will be considered a crime. Many of them are still unaware of this,'€ he said.

Abraham also said that the KPK would not interfere in the National Police'€™s ongoing investigation into two West Java Police officials who were caught red-handed accepting more than Rp 5 billion in bribes.

The officials, identified only by their titles and initials '€” Adj. Sr. Comr. MB and Adj. Comr. DS '€” received the bribes for helping to unfreeze bank accounts belonging to individuals implicated in an online gambling case.

'€œWe fully support the National Police in conducting the investigation. I believe that there have been concerns about this. But the case has been revealed to the public, thus everybody can monitor [how the investigation develops],'€ Abraham said.