Farouk Arnaz – The National Police on Wednesday vowed to present a friendlier face to the public, including abandoning terminology associated with the military.

"As soon as possible we will change the term National Police Headquarters to National Police Head Office, which sounds more civilian," National Police chief detective Ito Sumardi said while inaugurating a new media and complaint center.

"And the Provincial Police Headquarters will be changed to Provincial Police Regional Offices," he said, adding that authorities hoped the change of the new terminology would have an impact on police behavior.

For more than three decades under the Suharto regime, the role of Indonesia's National Police was overshadowed by the strong military, which the dictator used as a tool to maintain power.

The National Police were integrated into the Armed Forces under the Ministry of Defense, led by an Army general. As such, the police force was obliged to report to the military chief, and to use military procedures and techniques.

One goal of post-Suharto reforms was to separate the security forces so that the military would focus on national defense and the police on domestic security.

"Please don't judge us as unprofessional just because a few of our 400 thousand officers make mistakes," Sumardi said.

"There are so many good police around us who work without even thinking of themselves and their families. At this time my antiterror teams are trying to catch terror fugitives in East Java and Sulawesi," he said, refusing to elaborate.