Indonesian police abuses spark growing violence, think tank says

Feb 17, 2012, 2:58 GMT

Jakarta - Abuses and poor policing have triggered growing violence against the police in Indonesia, the International Crisis Group said Friday.

There have been 40 attacks on police stations across Indonesia since August 2010, the Brussels-based group, a conflict resolution think tank, said in a new report titled Indonesia: The Deadly Cost of Poor Policing.

The attacks 'are clear evidence that community policing, the centre point of the police reform agenda, is not working,' the group said.

'Police are too quick to shoot, usually with live ammunition; and little progress has been made toward police accountability,' it said.

In August 2010, seven people died in a clash between residents of Buol district in Central Sulawesi and police.

The mob attack was spurred by the death of a 19-year-old man in police custody.

In February 2011 two civilians were hit by a stray bullet after a six-hour confrontation between villagers and police in Riau province on Sumatra.

The siege was triggered by the arrest of a trader on suspicion of illegal gambling, which turned out to be mistaken.

The Crisis Group said applicants join the police to wield power and earn money, and once on the force, there are few incentives, financial or professional, to build rapport with communities.

Growing hostility is triggered by police brutality, unwarranted demands for money, perceived arrogance and a failure to punish errant officers, especially in cases of fatal shootings, it said.

'The cure is not more pilot projects in community policing but systematic reform in recruitment and training, use of force and handling of firearms, and above all, accountability,' said Achmad Sukarsono, the Crisis Group's South-East Asia analyst.

'Police are supposed to be helping prevent conflict, but too often they are contributing to its outbreak,' he said.