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Police need urgent organizational overhaul, like the military did
A senior minister said the police’s concealment lasted almost one month because Ferdy was “very powerful” even to higher-ups in the police.
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The police's General Supervision Inspectorate chief Comr. Gen. Agung Budi Maryoto (center) makes an announcement about the alleged premeditated murder of former internal affairs chief Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo’s aide-de-camp Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat on Aug. 19. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
I
ndonesia is facing a state of emergency in its trust of the 460,000-strong National Police following the brouhaha that began with a systematic attempt to cover up the killing of Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat at the official residence of Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo, then head of the police’s internal affairs division, on July 8. The nation has no choice but to reform the institution.
Even the dismissal of several top generals will be useless because it does not resolve the root cause of the problems. The cover-up clearly involved an institution and not just oknum (wayward officials).
To measure the gravity of the trust deficit in the police force, just check TikTok, Google or YouTube. You will easily find scenes of the police jeered during Independence Day parades in many parts of the country. The police personnel pretended to be deaf and continued marching while the Indonesia Military (TNI) entourages were applauded on some occasions. I believe people had never booed the police so openly before.
“Ferdy Sambo, Ferdy Sambo” or “Yosua” were the most frequent words the public shouted during the parades. I feel sorry for the police, but people were very angry with the murder of the low-ranking officer allegedly upon the order of Ferdy.
On social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, people without hesitation distributed the list of police generals and senior officers who were described as being alleged perpetrators of online gambling or even drug trafficking across the country. There is no fear that the police may arrest them based on the draconian Law No. 11/2008 on electronic information and transactions (ITE).
The people’s sarcasm reflects their anger and disappointment with the police institution. Public trust and confidence in the police have reached the zero, if not below zero, level.
The police announced Yosua’s death three days after the killing, and the cover-up was so blatant that it became a source of endless condemnation and jokes. Some people said the police were just unlucky because they were dealing with the outspoken Batak ethnic group, many of them prominent lawyers. Yosua was part of the ethnic group.
