JAKARTA - The publication of the Police Corruption Perceptions Index released by IndexMundi Global Surveys sparked a controversy after placing the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia (Polri) in 18th place as the police institution with the highest perception of corruption in the world.
A number of academics assessed that the survey results were not only problematic in terms of methodology, but also had the potential to undermine President Prabowo Subianto's government's policies in the field of legal reform.
Professor of Criminal Law Prof Romli Atmasasmita assessed that the report could not be accepted as a valid scientific fact. According to him, the survey has a tendency that can delegitimize government policies, especially legal reform efforts and national law enforcement that are being carried out.
"This kind of survey cannot be used as scientific truth without a verifiable methodology. I see a tendency that can undermine and delegitimize the policies of the government of President Prabowo Subianto," Romli said in his statement, Monday, July 6.
According to Romli, the dissemination of data that has not been scientifically verified has the potential to affect the public's level of trust in law enforcement institutions, as well as disrupt the ongoing reform process.
Although IndexMundi said the index was the result of an aggregation of various international sources, the methodology of compiling the Police Corruption Perceptions Index has been criticized by a number of academics.
Social observer and statistics expert Karyono Wibowo assessed that the survey had a number of fundamental weaknesses so that it was not worth being a reference in assessing the performance of law enforcement institutions.
According to Karyono, there are at least three main problems. First, the survey uses a nonprobability sampling method so that it does not give equal opportunities to the entire population to become respondents.
With only 296 online respondents, the survey results are considered not representative to describe the perception of the Indonesian people, who number more than 270 million.
Second, the respondents came from visitors to the IndexMundi website which was dominated by active internet users from English-speaking countries or developed countries. These characteristics are considered not to reflect the diversity of the Indonesian people so that the perceptions that arise have the potential to be influenced by international news coverage, not direct experience of police services.
Third, the index only measures subjective perceptions, not based on real experiences regarding bribery practices, the number of corruption cases processed, and official data from anti-corruption agencies. As a result, survey results are considered very vulnerable to public opinion, media coverage, and political sentiment.
"Perception-based surveys with small samples and nonprobability sampling methods cannot be used as a basis for objective assessment of the performance of a country's legal institutions," said Karyono.
In the midst of this methodological debate, Romli assessed that this controversy also has a political dimension that needs to be considered. According to him, criticism of state institutions is part of democracy, but must be based on research that meets scientific standards.
He emphasized that criticism of government policies should be built through valid and verifiable data, not just based on perceptions that have not been academically tested.
Meanwhile, the government under the leadership of President Prabowo Subianto reiterated its commitment to continue to strengthen the eradication of corruption and institutional reform of law enforcement agencies without discrimination.
Efforts to improve the internal affairs of the National Police are considered to need to be supported through objective and data-based evaluations that can be accounted for.
The controversy regarding the perception index is considered to be an important reminder of the importance of data literacy in the public sphere. Various statistical claims, especially those related to strategic state institutions, need to be critically examined by looking at the methodology, data sources, and the context of their preparation before being used as the basis for the formation of public opinion.
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