A couple of officers of the National Police’s mobile brigade unit carrying out their duties at Bhayangkara Field in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, Saturday (1/7). Responding to the recent attack on police officers, the National Police has urged internal security systems to be tightened using the buddy system, under which on-duty police officers do not operate alone but are always in pairs or more.
The commemoration of Bhayangkara Day on July 1, 2017, was marked by the stabbing of two National Police officers and a chaotic recruitment of cadets to the West Java Police Academy.
The two events, which are not connected to Bhayangkara Day, can be used as an occasion for reflection by the police. The stabbing of two officers of the Mobile Brigade, Adj. Comr. Dede Suhatmi and First Brig. Syaiful Bahri, might be linked to the fatal stabbing of First Adj. Insp. Martua Sigalingging at the North Sumatra Police headquarters on June 25, 2017, or even with an earlier event on May 24, 2017, when three police officers were killed in a bomb blast in Kampung Melayu, Jakarta. The National Police are still investigating a series of terror acts directed against the police.
In social media, we have observed several expressions of doubt against the police that have become fact. The citizens’ doubts must be answered with open and transparent law enforcement, corresponding with legal evidence that can be accounted for. Anyone who is guilty and responsible – whether the act is personal or by organized terror – should be put on trial.
We sympathize with the police officers who were killed or wounded. They are servants of the state. Any attempt to terrorize the police is an effort to cripple state authority as one of the pillars of the country. And the National Police must remain upright to watch over the state as its protector.
On Bhayangkara Day, we observed the public’s dissatisfaction with a variety of criminal cases that remain open. This situation creates speculation about the role of the police. There is no other way to answer this part of public doubt, except for the police to answer within the framework of law enforcement.
Kompas\' poll conducted from June 14-16, 2017 shows that 46 percent of respondents generally view the police’s performance in 2017 as better than in 2016, while 32.7 percent respondents see the police as good. However, there are still others who doubt the independence and neutrality of the police.
The chaotic candidate selection for cadets of the West Java Police Academy – which was dichotomized as local and non-local sons – is an indication of the unfinished cultural reform in the National Police. Fortunately, National Police chief Gen. (Pol) Tito Karnavian moved quickly to rectify the practice and took over the Police Academy recruitment at the level of National Police headquarters.
The National Police have to remain strong as the state\'s protector. They must remain the State Police of the Republic of Indonesia with the duty to maintain public order and security, uphold the law, protect, guard, and provide services to the community. That is the mandate of the law.
