T

he arrest of West Kalimantan Police officers Adj. Sr. Comr. Idha Endi Prastiono and Brig. Harahap at Kuching International Airport in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Saturday for alleged drug trafficking is obviously an embarrassment for this republic. Not only has their capture added to the list of Indonesians possibly facing the death penalty in Malaysia, but it has also cast doubt over the much-vaunted police reform.

Particularly ironic is the fact that Idha is a narcotics officer, who boasts on his blog about his achievements in cracking down on members of drug rings operating in the province and neighboring Malaysia.

The two police officers, even though they have not yet been found guilty, have raised public suspicion at home that they could themselves be drug traffickers or at least working for a drug syndicate. Such misgivings are no exaggeration, as there have been reports of officers stealing some of the drugs they confiscate as evidence and reselling them.

Less than two weeks before their arrest, four West Java Police officers were arrested after being caught red-handed tampering with an online gambling investigation and accepting more than Rp 5 billion (US$425,894) in bribes.

Needless to say, the police force is not free of rogue elements whose adventures have endangered the reputation of the law enforcement agency. Other institutions face the same threat from deviants; therefore, internal reform is badly needed to restore public confidence.

Integrity matters for the police, who are tasked with enforcing the law and protecting the public. There should be no tolerance for cops who break the law and threaten the public, which is why the force needs the courage to get rid of its bad apples.

Respecting Malaysian law in the drug-smuggling case is stating the obvious. The Indonesian police cannot just isolate the crime implicating the two officers as a stand-alone case. National Police chief Gen. Sutarman should order an internal investigation to determine the link between Adhi and Harahap and home-based drug syndicates, which may have police officers on their payrolls.

Since its inception in 1999, police reform has aimed to rebuild a professional force and, in keeping with its huge responsibilities, be awarded new authorities. Regrettably, however, in many cases power has been exercised without accountability or transparency.

Indonesia should thank the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for pushing for the police'€™s internal reform. On at least two occasions, the two law enforcement agencies have collided head-on, but eventually the commission forced the police to make changes, albeit not drastic.

The lack of a reform mind-set in the police'€™s leadership is evident in the National Police'€™s decision to charge National Police Commission (Kompolnas) member and criminology professor Adrianus Meliala with defamation for referring to the police'€™s detective division as the force'€™s '€œautomatic teller machine'€.

Who else can we now rely on to remind the police of their unfinished reform after both the KPK and Adrianus have failed? Then again, perhaps police reform is already '€œdead'€, as officer Idha so tellingly wrote on his blog.