Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo has approved a nearly 30 percent increase in the operating budget for the National Police next year, to Rp 51.6 trillion ($4.2 billion), with salaries to account for 60 percent of the total.
The House of Representatives in September endorsed the 2015 state budget proposed by the administration of then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, which included Rp 47.1 trillion to finance the operations of the National Police. In the 2014 budget, the police force received Rp 40.2 trillion.
Police had been seeking to raise the figure, and on Monday Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian, the police chief's deputy for planning and budgeting, said the government had agreed to an increase, albeit below the amount proposed by the institution.
"The finance minister has agreed with Rp 51.6 trillion. But we initially proposed Rp 63 trillion to cover the National Police's needs for next year," Tito said during the launch in Jakarta on Monday of the Police Academy's National Security Study Center.
Tito said that Rp 31 trillion of the funding, or around 60 percent, would be to pay increased salaries for police personnel.
National Police Chief Gen. Sutarman earlier said police personnel at every level would enjoy a 30 percent pay increase. Tito said this was to put their salaries on par with those of their counterparts at the Indonesian Military (TNI).
Salaries in the two security forces have never been standardized since the police were separated from the armed forces in 1999, and the discrepancy in pay has led to frequent and often deadly clashes between personnel.
In 2010, the lowest-ranked police personnel earned as little as Rp 553,000 per month, compared with Rp 924,000 for the lowest-ranking soldier. At the other end of the scale, the National Police chief was paid Rp 21.3 million a month, while the TNI commander received Rp 29.22 million.
"You can say that [the budget increase] includes adjustment of remuneration, so that earnings of police personnel are now nearly on par with those of TNI personnel," Tito said.
He added, though, that police generals would not be eligible for the pay rise. Tito also said that some 30 percent of next year's budget would be used for expenditure on goods and the remaining 10 percent for capital expenditure.
"Capital expenditure here includes purchase of special equipment and materials," he said, adding that these included bulletproof vests, motor vehicles and other hardware.
Critics have criticized the police's demands for a pay rise amid perceived poor performance.
On Monday, dozens of people from a number of regions visited the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta to protest violent treatment they alleged they had suffered at the hands of police personnel during interrogations.
"We bring here representatives of victims [of alleged police brutality] to show that the police continue to torture [people during inquiries]," said Putri Kanesia of the rights group the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), which facilitated the alleged victims' meeting with police representatives.
Kanesia said Kontras had received an increasing number of reports of alleged police brutality. The group recorded 56 cases from mid-2010 to mid-2011; 86 cases from 2011-2012; 100 from 2012-2013; and 108 reports from 2013-2014.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said the police would not tolerate any act of violence committed by police personnel, adding that every year some 200 personnel were fired for ethics violations including use of violence.