Stevani Wijaya, Jakarta – National Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo on Monday ordered high-ranking police officers to cease the practice of a subordinate giving bribes to superiors for any reason, in his continued move to eradicate rampant corruption inside the law enforcement agency.

He said if police superiors continued taking payment from their subordinates, officers on duty would illegally ask for payment from the community they serve.

"We the superiors must depart from the things that make police force members conditioned into accepting grease payment under the pretext that they too must give bribes to their superiors," Listyo said in a memo posted on his Instagram account.

Listyo claimed that his directive is already implemented in the HR department led by Inspector General Wahyu Widada. He said officers must not pay their superiors to buy a promotion or other favor such as acceptance to the Police University or special police courses required for high-ranking promotion.

"I have checked at the National Police headquarters and found no such things anymore," he wrote.

The order applies across all levels of police jurisdictions including the district police, Listyo added.

"No officer must pay to attend the academy. Any recommendation must be based on objective assessment and individual merit and we at the police headquarters are doing the same," he said.

The memo came days after Listyo also banned traffic policemen from making on-the-spot settlements with traffic offenders to avoid bribes.

The National Police have been dealt with serious blows over the last few months, starting with Listyo's close aide Ferdy Sambo being accused of murdering a subordinate.

Nine middle to high-ranking officers including Ferdy are currently on trial for charges either directly related to the murder or the obstruction of justice during police's initial probe into the case.

Police also came under scrutiny for the October 1 deadly crush at a football stadium that killed 132 people in the East Java town of Malang, with many believing the tragic incident was triggered by police firing tear gas munitions at spectators.

As Listyo removed the East Java provincial police chief in the mid of the investigation into the deadly crush, his appointee to the post Teddy Minahasa was arrested for alleged drug trafficking.

A recent poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) ranked the national police at 10th, the lowest among all the country's law enforcement and judiciary agencies and better only than the House of Representatives and political parties – typically the most unpopular institutions among Indonesians.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/police-superiors-banned-from-taking-payment-from-subordinate