Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Public confidence in the police force, prosecutors' offices and courts has fallen to a six-year low, according to a new study.
The survey, conducted in October by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) and involving 1,824 people, showed only 36 percent trusted law enforcement institutions in the country – the lowest level since 2004.
It found that the number of people who distrusted the three institutions almost doubled from 15 percent in 2009 to 29 percent this year. It also showed that on a scale of -100 to 100, with the latter representing utmost trust in an institution's integrity, the average score for the police was -18.3. The average score for prosecutors' offices was -17.6 and the courts -15.
"The honeymoon period lasted only three months between July and September 2009, right after the presidential election," LSI analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi said. "After that, public trust has been on a decline."
By contrast, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) scored at the other end of the scale, with +15.
The survey also found that 47.2 percent of respondents considered the nation's corruption rate high, while 21.9 percent said it was very high. Meanwhile, 20.9 percent said corruption should be a capital offense, while 39.2 percent wanted it to be punishable by life in prison.
The respondents came from a variety of educational backgrounds across the country. Burhanuddin said officials should be worried that such a broad range of respondents believed law enforcement institutions could not be trusted.
"It's a very serious problem, because the people would normally be happy to give credit if the institutions are truly good, such as by praising the police's counterterrorism campaign," he said.
Most respondents, he added, believed that police, prosecutors and court officials were incapable of eradicating graft within their institutions or remaining independent from political parties and businesses.
Kastorius Sinaga, an adviser to the National Police, said the LSI's findings were not surprising, pointing out that previous surveys had indicated growing distrust of the three institutions. He added that it was important for all three to carry out serious improvements immediately.
With a new National Police chief and new heads also expected soon for the Attorney General's Office and the KPK, he said he was hopeful that there would be significant changes in these institutions. He added that the government and the president needed to show the political will to address the issue of systemic corruption and regain the public's trust.
Meanwhile, Bambang Widjojanto, an antigraft activist and a candidate to lead the KPK, said making corruption punishable by life in prison would not serve as an effective deterrent. Instead, he said, the public should be called upon to help officials devise more effective alternative punishments for corruption convicts.
"Hand out punishments that will expose them to public shame, such as getting them to clean up gutters along the main streets in the city," he said. "We could get the police to drop them off then pick them up again after they're done. That would be more effective."