Police Crimes

THE actions of Adj. Chf. Comr. Fajar Widyadharma Lukman Sumaatmaja, Chief of Police in Ngada, East Nusa Tenggara, are beyond the bounds of humanity. The police officer, who has since been dismissed, sexually abused three underage children and recorded the assaults. He then uploaded the recordings to a pornographic site in Australia. It has also been reported that he has been proven guilty of using drugs.

The sexual violence by Fajar is just one of a series of crimes committed by police officers over the last three months. Apart from the indecent assaults on children by Fajar, there was the intimidation of the Sukatani music group, the mistreatment of a man looking for snails in Central Java, the murder of a baby, and a series of extortion.

These repeated acts of crime and violence by police officers happen because of the continued impunity within the National Police. The organization has a tendency to allow any of its officers embroiled in criminal cases to go free without taking responsibility for their wrongdoing. There is never any fitting punishment for officers who break the law.

The police give the appearance of taking strong action against personnel who break the law. They use the mechanism of ethics hearings to show the public that the police are serious about investigating criminal acts carried out by its personnel. However, this ethics hearing process is often not transparent, biased, and hands down very lenient punishments. In many cases, officers who were found guilty and who have been punished, later on are still able to win promotion. There is no lack of examples to prove the impunity within the police. Seven officers found guilty of obstructing the investigation into the murder of Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat by Ferdy Sambo have now been promoted and posted to strategic positions. In South Sulawesi, 2nd Brig. Fauzan was able to return to his duties despite having been fired for assaulting his wife.

It is difficult to prosecute these crimes within the police because of the weak internal oversight mechanism. The National Police General Oversight Inspectorate and the Profession and Security Division, which are tasked with upholding professional discipline within the force, are often ineffective, especially when investigating cases involving high-ranking officers. And the National Police Commission is weak because its authority is limited. Moreover, these commissioners of these oversight bodies are not fully independent from the police leadership. Weak oversight and lenient punishments do not provide a deterrent effect to stop officers from breaking the law. As a result, misdemeanors and crimes continue to happen and, it is possible that they are then copied by other police officers. This practice of impunity within the police must end.

Fajar Widyadharma must face criminal prosecution for his crimes so that he can be put on trial. He should be severely punished for his barbaric actions. Many police officers who commit crimes are only given administrative punishments, such as being transferred to other areas and demoted, rather than being prosecuted and subject to criminal punishment.

The chain of wrongdoing by the police will only be broken through fair and transparent punishment. It is not enough for officers like Fajar to be simply be dismissed by an ethics hearing because his actions in molesting children and becoming a drug addict are crimes that should be dealt with using criminal law. Without serious trials for those who break the law, the police will only become a force for oppression, not an institution that ‘protects and serves.’