Having been caught without substantial evidence in a bribery case they pursued aggressively for months, the National Police have some serious explaining to do.
Public confidence in the police fell after they failed to produce wiretap recordings that allegedly connected Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputies Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto to supposed bribes.
The police admitted later that the recordings were merely call data from phone numbers reportedly said to belong to another KPK commissioner and a suspected case broker.
The police repeatedly claimed that they were in possession of evidence proving graft within the KPK even if they only had flimsy bits of information.
The police should own up to their mistakes. Currently, pressure is mounting for National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri to apologize for how the case was handled.
The controversy not only paralyzed the KPK, it also prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to intervene and break the impasse.
The issue riled lawmakers, who rightly demanded immediate answers. Pramono Anung, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, suggested that the police chief should be summoned to explain the matter and take responsibility for the debacle.
This should happen as soon as possible and the public should be given a full account of how things went wrong.
Evidence and hard facts are vital when one government agency accuses another of wrongdoing. Clearly, police officers were on very thin ice when they made corruption allegations against the KPK. The National Police can repair the damage and win back the public's trust if they come clean on what happened.
If certain police officers are found to have acted outside the law, they must be dealt with firmly – not just for the sake of saving face, but to establish a precedent for similar situations in the future.
Moral authority is vital for the police to carry out their duties. If the police are to be trusted fully, the public must be certain that officers will not lie, especially in a court of law.
The reputation of the force has been seriously tainted by the recent controversy and repairing the damage will certainly take a lot of time and effort.
The National Police should stop playing the blame game and start compelling the officers involved to admit their mistakes. How the police will respond to public outrage will test whether they have the political will to make tough decisions.
No matter how hard the task may be, the National Police must clean up their act so other government agencies and Indonesian citizens can believe in them again.