JP/Ricky Yudhistira

The year 2009 is rapidly approaching to an end. And as for the National Police — the official guarantor of domestic security and order — the year 2009 was nearly a success story.

As usual, the police’s annual ritual this year was marked with the raid in September of a house in Bogor, West Java, which was used as a crystal methamphetamine factory. The September raid topped the police’s successful raids on illegal drugs and narcotics production facilities earlier in the year, in January, February and May, respectively. All were a repetition of the police’s successful raids on such illegal facilities of previous years.

The year 2009 was also marked by the police’s success to end a nine-year manhunt on the country’s — and perhaps the Southeast Asia region — most wanted terrorist Noordin M. Top during a raid in Surakarta, Central Java, in September. Noordin, a Malaysian national, was among the four-suspected terrorists killed in the raid. The raid and killing of Noordin also marked the temporary successful disbandment of terrorist networks operating in the country.

The police’s ultimate success of the year, however, perhaps, was the appointment of one of its best personnel, Gen. (ret)  Sutanto, as State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief in October, along with the announcement of the 2009-2014 Cabinet members. Sutanto, the best graduate of the Police Academy’s class of 1973, is the first intelligence agency chief at the national level with a police background after 43 years when in the mid 1960s a police Brig. Gen. (R.S. Soetarto) was appointed chief-of-staff of then intelligence agency, the Central Intelligence Agency (BPI).

To claim the year 2009 as a complete success, however, is an exaggeration as there is a fundamental problem that continuously overwhelms the National Police — the acute lack of public trust. And this problem will undoubtedly continue to haunt the police next year and in the long run unless serious and systematic measures are made to regain trust.

Still fresh in our mind, the five officers from Beji Resort Police Office in Depok, West Java, assaulted researcher and activist JJ Rizal during an operation to search for thieves on Dec. 5. It later turned out that the officers had committed a wrongful arrest and continued to arrest Rizal, although the latter repeatedly denied that he was a thief the police were looking for.

The assault and wrongful arrest against Rizal was undoubtedly a bold example of how the police force is unable to win the people’s heart and continues to neglect basic procedures in conducting arrests against alleged criminals.

And the Rizal case is the tip of the iceberg as observers believe that many incidents have failed to grab the people and media’s attention — apparently because most of the victims are common people with poor knowledge about the law and their rights. (Bear in mind that Rizal’s case had managed to appear on the radar of the national media because he is an activist with an extensive network in society, including with the media)

Another simple explanation of the lack or minimal public trust of the police is perhaps the common expression frequently stated by the public who have experience in dealing with the police.

It has become a public secret that people are reluctant to report to the police after their houses have been robbed, or when they have a file a report regarding stolen vehicles, because that would mean they have to provide money so that their cases are followed up by the police. And once their belongings, especially vehicles, are found, the owners have to provide more money to the police to release their vehicles.

There is a long list of cases, albeit minor ones, showing the minimal level of public acceptance of the police. But, the controversial decision made by the National Police in the only recently settled “dispute” between the police and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was obvious evidence regarding how the police failed to act as “the protector of the people” as its motto says.

Its decision to neglect common sense and continue to upholding esprit de corps in the framing of two deputies at the KPK, Bibit S. Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah, following the verbal offensive launched by then Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji after the latter made public that his cell phone had been wiretapped in the wake of the investigation into the Bank Century scandal.

The dispute made headlines for months before it subsided after the charges against Bibit and Chandra were dropped due to lack of evidence and strong public pressure.

It is true that some of the above-mentioned examples of irregularities are minor in terms of scope and potential financial loss, but they were part of classical problems that remain unsolved and have been carried over year to year just because there has been no systematic effort to end such unpopular and unacceptable practices.

There are a number of applicable formula, but one of the most effective methods is perhaps the use of the role model and top-down approach. To start with, the National Police could refresh and follow the lead of its fifth chief Gen. Hoegeng Imam Santoso (1968-1971), who led the police force by example. Up until now, Hoegeng will be remembered as the police chief with the most integrity Indonesia had.

It is always nice to have a police force with supreme skill and the capability to tackle modern and dangerous security threats, such as universal-scale terrorism and illegal drug trafficking. But, it will be nicer to have a police force that is trusted and loved by the people. Quantitative achievement is important, but qualitative achievement is more important.

The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.

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