‘We worked hard even before Jokowi’s order’

JAKARTA. National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said Tuesday that the force’s rank-and-file had a strong work ethic, long before President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo gave his now- famous “work, work and work” instruction to his new Cabinet ministers.

“Some police officers were working 24 hours a day well before [Jokowi’s] ‘work and work’ instruction. Any government policy has the potential to trigger social disturbances, and it is our duty to handle them,” Sutarman told reporters at National Police headquarters on Tuesday.

Sutarman added that much of the police’s hard work was conducted well away from the media spotlight.

“We carry out initial probes and take action to protect everybody […] but these never receive media attention,” he said.

The National Police, along with the Indonesian Military (TNI), won praise for its handling of the legislative and presidential elections and the Oct. 20 presidential inauguration, all of which passed off peacefully and without major
incident.

Apart from securing high-profile political events, Sutarman said his 429,000-strong force also conducted routine work, such as investigating criminal cases reported by members of the public.

“We have applied a ‘quick win’ principle in the service by setting targets on case investigations,” he said.

A National Survey Media (MEDIAN) survey last year found that 85 percent of 1,100 respondents applauded the police’s efforts in eradicating terrorism.

The respondents also praised the force’s performance in handling drug cases (65 percent), pornography cases (60 percent), and maintaining public order (57.7 percent).

However, more than half of the respondents expressed their dissatisfaction over the force’s performance in handling corruption cases (57 percent) and solving human rights violations cases implicating police personnel (42.7 percent).

On several occasions, Sutarman has said that the lack of personnel is one of the major hurdles for the force in providing excellent service to the public.

The current police-to-civilian ratio stands at 1:564, far from the ideal ratio of one police officer per 300 people.

Under Jokowi’s administration, the National Police will likely enjoy a significant surge in its budget, enabling the force to recruit more officers.

During his presidential election campaign, Jokowi pledged that if the country enjoyed steady 7 percent economic growth, his administration would triple the National Police’s budget within five years.

The National Police currently receives Rp 44.9 trillion (US$3.6 billion) in budget funds. More than Rp 5 trillion was cut from the budget in May as part of the previous government’s measures to deal with surging fuel-subsidy costs. (Yuliasri Perdani)