Police controversy: Who is going to go to whom

JAKARTA - The Police Regulation (Perpol) Number 10 of 2025 issued by the National Police Chief General Pol Listyo Sigit Prabowo has made the national mourning atmosphere due to the Aceh-Sunatera disaster disturbed. The police, which should serve as a state tool that maintains public security and order, is considered to be doing political acrobatics for the second time.

The #PercumaLaporPolisi hashtag first appeared when the case of three children being raped by their own father, surfaced to the public through social media. The father is a state civil servant in the local government. This case occurred in East Luwu, South Sulawesi and the struggle of the mother of the three children to get justice began since 2019.

The mother had reported to the police, but the investigation into the case was actually stopped by the East Luwu Police and even the regional police, the South Sulawesi Police. This story was published by Projectmultatuli.org in the article Three of My Children Were Raped, I Reported to the Police. The Police Stopped the Investigation, on October 06, 2021.

After this case was reported by national media the next day, the case of the three children became more and more viral. The police reasoned that the investigation of the case was discontinued because they did not have strong evidence. Hearing this, many of the public were very angry and disappointed so they used the hashtag #PercumaLaporPolisi to support the victims and encourage the police to act appropriately.

Since then, the #PercumaLaporPolisi hashtag has often been used by the public every time a news about the negligence of the police in following up on citizen reports appears, some of which are: reports of the theft of a bag and money worth Rp7,000,000.00 belonging to a woman named Meta Raib who was not taken seriously by the police and was actually scolded with inappropriate sentences that blamed the victim; police who refused to report the theft of a motorcycle that hit a driver of ojol (online motorcycle taxi) named Charly (39) and asked him to bring money first so that his case could be processed, even, Charly was beaten by the police; the case of sexual harassment of KPI employees who were just processed by law when it went viral; the case of abortion and suicide of NWR caused by one of the police officers with the initials R; and several other cases.

The emergence of this situation has an impact on the decline in the level of public confidence in the Indonesian National Police, which can be seen through a survey conducted by the Indonesian Public Indicator (IPI) in December 2021.

The survey results found that public confidence in the National Police dropped sharply by 6 percent, from 80.2 percent to 74.1 percent. Many people feel that the police cannot be trusted and are useless if they expect the police because the reported cases will not necessarily be processed quickly. This is certainly contrary to the function of the police, which should be able to become a government agency that the community can rely on.

Public trust in the National Police is certainly crucial for the institution. The smooth and successful implementation of the National Police's work program may be hampered if the public is even reluctant to rely on the institution. On the other hand, if the National Police and the public have a good reciprocal relationship, the National Police will be easier to carry out its obligations. As Schaap (2020) said, the Police needs public trust to be able to carry out its duties well.

Police are the worst legal institution

Before this Perpol controversy emerged, based on VOI's investigation, this institution was busy creating an image in the media that public confidence had returned after falling in 2024. However, not a few have criticized the performance of the National Police under Listyo Sigit Prabowo is still far from expectations.

The level of public satisfaction with the performance of the National Police reached 79.8 percent, according to the results of the national survey of the Indonesian Political House (RPI). This finding places the National Police as the law enforcement agency with the best performance based on public assessment.

RPI Director Fernando Emas explained that the public gave the highest appreciation because the National Police was considered to have adequate coverage and organizational structure. "As many as 19.3 percent of respondents said that the main reason was the wide coverage and organizational structure," he said, Thursday (20/11/2025).

In addition, the modernization of police technology is the second largest reason with 18.1 percent, followed by inter-agency collaboration of 14.5 percent, and the improvement of human resources quality of 11.9 percent. The public also assessed positively the rapid response of the National Police to crimes (11.2 percent), bureaucratic reform and public services (9.8 percent), and the success of uncovering major cases (9.1 percent). Meanwhile, 6.1 percent of respondents chose not to know or not answer.

Fernando assessed that although law enforcement agencies were in the spotlight, the public still had strong hopes for the agenda to strengthen the rule of law. He emphasized that the reform process carried out by the National Police through the Reform Transformation Team was in line with the Reform Acceleration Committee established by the President.

"There is no resistance from the National Police to public demands. This is a step that should be appreciated," said Fernando.

However, in two other surveys, the institution whose personnel are in brown uniforms received a bad assessment. LSI Survey (Lembaga Survei Indonesia) (data until February 2025): Placing the level of trust in the National Police at the lowest level compared to other law enforcement agencies such as the Attorney General's Office and the Court, although the figure is still in the range of 71%. The public considers this low trust to be due to the lack of transparency in the law enforcement process involving the National Police

Meanwhile, the Setara Institute Survey (September 2025): As many as 61.1% of experts assessed the performance of the National Police as bad. This assessment shows a disparity between the views of the general public and the views of experts or academics who are more critical of issues of reform and human rights.

Prabowo's Indication Allows Perpol Controversy

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo issued a Perpol to support the Polri Bill and will not fight the Supreme Court's decision. Based on Presidential Regulation No. 68 of 2021 concerning the Grant of Presidential Approval to the Draft Ministerial Regulation/Head of Institution. This Presidential Regulation stipulates that the draft regulation of the minister or head of the institution (including the National Police Chief as the head of the institution) must obtain the President's approval before being determined.

Political analyst and Intelligence Pegamat Sri Rajasa Candra said from the presidential decree, this presidential decree can be interpreted as confirming that the perpol issued by Listyo has been known by President Prabowo Subianto. He added that the revision of the Police Bill has not been passed into law by the DPR. The bill is currently still in the discussion stage and has been included in the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) Priority for Change in 2025.

"Now Logika thinks it's backwards, the Police Bill alone has not been passed by the Indonesian House of Representatives, why is Perpol or Perkap issued and passed? This means that the Police Bill that follows Perpol, right? This is not true. President Prabowo Subianto is again 'trapped' by the word games of his subordinates," Sri Rajasa Candra told VOI via telephone connection, Tuesday, December 16.

The man who is also a former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) noted several events related to two statements issued by the national police chief in the last three months at the end of 2025. Candra assessed that Prabowo seemed to be imitating his political mentor Jokowi for not being in place when there was a policy from the national police that shook the public.

"When the statement about the formation of the National Police reform team was made, the President was on a foreign visit. And now when the Perpol is published, he is also on a visit to Pakistan and Russia. So this Polri controversy seems like he doesn't know," said Candra.

Candra explained that with the existence of the Police Regulation (Perpol) Number 10 of 2025, the active members of the National Police who sit in public office positions are not backed up and protected by the umbrella of the law. Even though it is clear that this perpol rule has violated the constitution.

"It's the same as who is going to go to who. The truth is, if the National Police supports the Supreme Court's decision, the National Police Chief should ask all active members of the National Police to resign from public office. After the bill is approved, the Perpol will be made and passed," he said.