Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The recent shake-up of senior officials at the National Police will not bring about significant change in the force, experts said Sunday.
The failure, they said, was caused by a lack of will to implement a merit system and allow for an independent monitoring body to oversee their conduct.
"The latest survey by Transparency International Indonesia (TII) shows once again that the police force is the most corrupt state institution in Indonesia. Clearly nothing has changed within the force despite a series of staff and leadership rotations," legal expert Benny Kabur Harman told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
"The police leadership have failed to implement the reward and punishment system, which is particularly important for curbing corruption," he said.
According to the survey, released last Wednesday by TII, the business community views the police force as the most corrupt institution while handouts at judicial institutions were deemed the most costly,.
The study showed 48 percent of respondents admitted to paying police officers more than Rp 2.2 million (US$200) in bribes on average every year. The police also booked first place in TII's 2007 survey, with a corruption perception index of 4.2.
Harman urged the police force to tackle this problem in a more effective manner than simply rotating their personnel.
Law enforcement expert Bambang Widodo Umar said the process of rotating staff would be pointless unless it was followed up by a merit system.
Bambang, himself a former police officer, said when officers were up for promotion, senior officers usually considered their personal ties to the applicant rather than their track record as the criteria for selection.
"As long as the whole system is constructed this way, let's forget about the police force being reliable. Law enforcement heads must pay serious attention to the 'who-holds-what-position' policy by implementing a merit system," Bambang said.
Early last week, National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri rotated 25 generals in top positions to different departments.
Observers were quick to suggest the move was an attempt to clean the police force of the rampant bribery and corruption that has plagued them for years. Some of the relocated regional police chiefs are currently under investigation for alleged instances of bribery or abusing their authority.
Bambang said the police needed to be more willing to allow for an independent body to monitor their performance. The body should include anticorruption activists, experts and representatives from NGOs, he added.
"The monitoring agency should be firm and strict when investigating corrupt officials. It should not replicate the current National Police Commission, which is merely a toothless tiger," Bambang said.
The commission is comprised of state officials whose impartiality when dealing with police is questionable due to links within law and order agencies. "We need impartial figures with the authority to investigate and bring to trial every corrupt police officer," he said.