Jakarta – A recent survey conducted to commemorate the National Police' 61st anniversary found that the public wants more female police officers, despite the discrimination they face.

The Women's Legal Aid Foundation (LBH APIK), the Partnership civic group and the National Police conducted a needs assessment survey on seven State Police Schools (SPN) in seven provinces of Aceh, Jakarta, East Java, East Nusa Tenggara, West Kalimantan, Makassar and Papua. These seven provinces were picked to represent Indonesia's three regions – west, central and east.

Estu Rakhmi Fanani, director of LBH APIK, said that the needs assessment showed that there were discriminatory policies in place when it came to recruiting policewomen. For example, out of the 26,000 candidates accepted in the 2005-2006 intake, only 1,000 were women due to limited places at the Policewomen's Academy.

There are currently 24 SPNs nationwide training male non-commissioned cadets, but there is only one school for female cadets, in Pondok Pinang, South Jakarta.

There is also a maximum number of female police officers that can be stationed at provincial police headquarters. Aceh gets 10 female officers per year, while Jakarta has a quota of 20 officers.

"In many cases, many female candidates are eliminated due to the quota, even though their grades exceed those of the male candidates," Estu said in a press conference Monday.

Estu suggested SPNs to also accept women as cadets to increase the number of policewomen, save money on the trip to Java and decrease the exclusivity of officers studying at the Policewomen's School.

"This will also fulfill one of the police's goals, that is local jobs for local boys or girls," said Estu.

"However, if SPNs were to accept female cadets, the facilities and teaching methods should be adjusted to the specific needs of female cadets."

Estu added that in the regions, the public found it difficult to access information on policewomen recruitment, resulting in smaller candidate numbers.

Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a founder of LBH APIK, said that a 2006 survey held by the Aceh provincial police showed that more than 70 percent of prominent Acehnese figures said that the province required more policewomen, while 35 percent of the public believed that the number of policewomen should be more than or equivalent to the number of policemen.

Nursyahbani, also a legislator of the Nation Awakening Party, added that the number of policewomen was insufficient because Indonesia had 360,381 policemen while there were only 11,706 female officers.

Senior advisor for Partnership Adrianus Meliala said that the quota should be dropped.

"We should allow men and women to become police cadets. If in the end there fewer women female cadets, it means they are less capable," he said.

The problem does not stop in the recruitment process but continues in the policewomen's work as they are often assigned to desk duties.

"There is also a stigma in the community when policewomen must investigate drug cases at night and in the work place when they are paired with policemen," said Estu.

National Police human resources department chief Brig. Gen. Boedhi Santoso said that his office would accommodate the study and follow it up internally and then propose it to the National Police chief.

"If further study shows the possibility of decentralizing education, the National Police chief must issue a decree to allow that," he said.