Nivell Rayda – Activists have called for the empowerment of the toothless and allegedly biased National Police Commission in a bid to clean up the National Police.

In little more than two weeks, the Team of Eight established by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Nov. 2, was able to conclude that the National Police had acted unprofessionally and had a hidden agenda in naming Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairmen Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra Hamzah suspects for abuse of power and extortion.

It is widely believed that the investigation of the deputies was triggered by a KPK probe into the National Police's chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, who allegedly illegally intervened in the PT Bank Century bailout scandal to help businessman Boedi Sampoerna recover frozen funds. Susno has not been charged with any offense.

The Team of Eight also recommended that the president restructure the National Police, which is perceived as being one of the country's most corrupt institutions.

Lawyers for Bibit and Chandra reported to the National Police Commission (Kompolnas), a government police watchdog, on Oct. 8 that there was a conflict of interest in the pursuit of their clients, namely from Susno Duadji, who was being investigated by the KPK. No action was ever taken by the watchdog.

"The government should reposition Kompolnas from simply making recommendations that fall on deaf ears to being an effective watchdog," said Ardi, an activist at prominent human rights group Imparsial. "There should be more authority and independence given to Kompolnas."

Since its establishment in 2005, Kompolnas has been criticized for being ineffective in police monitoring, including following up on public complaints. With limited authority, Kompolnas is only able to forward public complaints to the police's internal affairs unit.

"Kompolnas should be able to conduct its own investigations and impose sanctions against rogue police officers," said Indonesia Police Watch chairman Neta S Pane, adding that Kompolnas' independence was questionable.

"The chairman of Kompolnas is the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs and two other ministers act as its deputies. Kompolnas should be completely independent from the government to be an effective watchdog for the police," he added

Bambang Widodo Umar, a former police officer and a professor at the Institute of Police Science, said the need for an independent police watchdog had never been greater.

"The police have been given an enormous amount of authority, most being unaccounted for," he said. "Either police power [should] be stripped down or there must be an effective counterbalance, otherwise the police could easily become an instrument of the political and economic elite."

Neta said the repositioned watchdog should be able to impose tight controls on police activities, mainly the handling of particular cases.

"Right now everything from starting an investigation, declaring someone a suspect, arresting someone and dropping a case are all at the police's own discretion," he said. "This makes the police very prone to abuse of power and corruption."