The replacement of the National Police chief from General Idham Azis to Commissioner General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the sole candidate proposed by President Joko Widodo to the House of Representatives went smoothly.
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BY AZYUMARDI AZRA
·6 minutes read
Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo salutes members of House Commission III before the start of a confirmation hearing at the House of Representatives building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday (20/1/2021). President Jokowi has picked Listyo Sigit Prabowo as a candidate for National Police chief to replace Gen. Idham Azis.
“This is gentle persuasion to have a deeper dialogue about what must change for us in our police communities. Make no mistake, police must change, and that does not equal weakness." —(Ginger Charles, "Police Pursuit of the Common Good: Reforming & Restoring Police Community", 2016)
The replacement of the National Police chief from General (Pol) Idham Azis to Commissioner General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the sole candidate proposed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to the House of Representatives (DPR) went smoothly. If nothing gets in the way, Listyo will immediately be promoted to general and officially appointed by President Jokowi as the chief.
Listyo would become the National Police chief at least until President Jokowi\'s term ends in 20 Oct. 2024. Listyo, who is now 51 years old, will be still active in the next seven years before reaching his retirement age. That way, for the remainder of his term of office, President Jokowi no longer needs to replace the chief due to retirement. The police chief can be replaced only if Listyo is assigned to another position — as minister, for example — or something unexpected happens.
Given the relatively long term of office, the new police chief has the opportunity and enough time to revive the National Police (Polri) reform agenda. With the rejuvenation, Polri\'s seemingly slow reform can again improve the quality of the institution, governance and human resources (HR) of the police.
Polri reform was launched in 1999 with the main agenda of separating Polri from the Indonesian Military (TNI) in 2002. Polri reform is more than just separation from the TNI, but also changes the culture and character of Polri to become a "civilian police", which is no longer in a militaristic culture.
In the first wave (2004-2010), it covered five scopes, namely institutional changes, organizational culture, management, regulation-deregulation, and human resources.
The RBP continued with wave II (2010-2015), wave III (2016-2019), and wa
The Polri reform, which was called Polri Bureaucracy Reform (RBP), was conceptually launched in 2004 and covered several areas of reform. In the first wave (2004-2010), it covered five scopes, namely institutional changes, organizational culture, management, regulation-deregulation, and human resources.
The RBP continued with wave II (2010-2015), wave III (2016-2019), and wave IV (2020-2024). The essence of the reform is to create a clean and accountable police bureaucracy that can provide quality services effectively and efficiently.
The reform has resulted in the establishment of significant structural changes and advances, instruments and public services. For example, Obtaining SIM (driver’s license) is easier, traffic management is better with the use of the T V closed circuit, or the development of an integrated police service center.
However, reforms of perspective, mental attitude and culture within the national police are still not enough. Reform in this field is not consistent, depending much on the intellectual and practical tendencies of the police chief.
Lately there has been a lot of criticism against the police. Polri is often seen as ignoring the paradigm and the reform program of the police culture to become civilian, respecting human rights, and upholding democracy. Polri\'s culture, mindset, and practice are still incompatible with the spirit of reform. The reform rejuvenation needs to be echoed again.
Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
National Police chief Gen. Idham Azis speaks to journalists after accompanying National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo to the latter’s confirmation hearing at the House of Representatives building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday (20/1/2021).
The new police chief should be the driving force behind the rejuvenation of the Polri reform. For that, he has to become part of the reformed bureaucracy and culture. He should then become the locomotive of reform: increasing the role of the national police as guardian of security and order; law enforcer; protector and community service; and contribute to strengthening social cohesion and national integration.
In rejuvenating reform, the national police needs to build a culture of handling expressions of freedom of expression through a more humanist approach, presenting itself as a civilian police that respects civic culture and civility. With this approach, the police can help strengthen democracy with freedom of expression and aspiration.
It\'s no secret that Indonesia\'s democracy is in decline. This setback is also more or less related to the police, which still adhere to the old culture, which tends to commit excessive and repressive violence to face groups critical to the government.
If a civilian police can be developed, violence can no longer be attached to police culture and behavior. It is quite saddening to read, for example, the report of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras). In the report, Kontras noted that throughout 2019, the police were involved in 921 violent incidents that effected 5,097 people, of which 304 people died and the rest were injured or arrested. There is no complete data for 2020.
The police should distance themselves from the culture that is often referred to as "silencing", "repression", or humiliating political activists by presenting them at press conferences wearing prison vests and handcuffed just like criminals.
Still about the cultural reform, the national police should no longer be too proactive in arresting activists who, according to the police, are suspected of treason. The police should distance themselves from the culture that is often referred to as "silencing", "repression", or humiliating political activists by presenting them at press conferences wearing prison vests and handcuffed just like criminals.
In cultural reform too, the police should build a fairer criminalization process for suspected lawbreakers. In public perception, Polri is often considered discriminatory in dealing with suspected perpetrators of political cases. The police often take a quick action against those who oppose the government. On the other hand, it is slow in taking action against suspects who are supporters, buzzers, or influencers of the government.
KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI
Jakarta Military commander Maj. Gen. Dudung Abdurachman (left) and Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Fadil Imran (second left) inspect a special team assigned to crackdown on Covid-19 health protocol violators at Jakarta Police headquarters in South Jakarta on Friday (4/12/2020).
Here the national police needs to strengthen its professionalism again. With full professionalism, the police will undoubtedly not become an instrument of power to guard and ensure that the government is not disturbed by critical voices and opposition to the authorities.
Polri members should distance themselves from multi-functional roles, by holding non-police positions that are usually held by non-Polri civilian officials. As the number of high-ranking Polri officers has a multifunctional role, there is a growing criticism and resistance from the public and bureaucracy to the police.
Kompas
Azyumardi Azra
No less important, the national police need to further increase its role in building good governance; free from corruption, collusion and nepotism. To that end, the national police must first build good governance, integrity, accountability and credibility within itself.
AZYUMARDI AZRA,History professor, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta; Member of the Cultural Commission of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI)
(This article was translated byHendarsyah Tarmizi).
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