Police Corruption and Public Trust in Indonesia: Institutional Accountability and the Reform of Internal Oversight Mechanisms
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65815/ez3nfk28Keywords:
Police corruption, law enforcement, institutional accountability, public trust, IndonesiaAbstract
Public trust in law enforcement institutions depends heavily on perceptions of integrity, fairness, and accountability. Allegations of bribery, abuse of authority, and misconduct within police institutions can undermine confidence in the justice system. This article examines institutional mechanisms for preventing and addressing police corruption in Indonesia. Using normative juridical and institutional analysis, the study evaluates internal disciplinary systems, external oversight, complaint mechanisms, and anti-corruption institutions. The article argues that internal oversight alone may face structural limitations when investigations involve institutional colleagues or senior officials. The study proposes a multi-layered accountability framework combining independent complaint mechanisms, transparent disciplinary procedures, external oversight, whistleblower protection, asset disclosure, and systematic integrity monitoring. Particular attention is given to the accessibility of complaint mechanisms for ordinary citizens who may lack legal resources. The article concludes that police anti-corruption reform requires not only stronger sanctions but also institutional structures capable of generating credible and independent accountability. Strengthening public participation and external oversight would contribute to restoring public confidence in Indonesian law enforcement institutions.
References
Bayley, David H. 2006. Changing the Guard: Developing Democratic Police Abroad. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bradford, Ben, Jonathan Jackson, and Jason Stanko. 2015. “Contact and Confidence: Revisiting the Impact of Public Encounters with the Police.” Policing and Society 19 (1): 20–46.
Butt, Simon. 2010. “The Constitutional Court and Democracy in Indonesia.” Brill’s Asian Law Series 3: 1–42.
Goldsmith, Andrew. 2005. “Police Reform and the Problem of Trust.” Theoretical Criminology 9 (4): 443–470.
Hough, Mike, Ben Bradford, Jonathan Jackson, and Andy Myhill. 2013. “Attitudes to Sentencing and Trust in Justice: Exploring Trends from the Crime Survey for England and Wales.” Ministry of Justice Analytical Series.
Indonesia. 1945. Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia of 1945.
Indonesia. 1999. Law No. 28 of 1999 concerning State Administration That Is Clean and Free from Corruption, Collusion, and Nepotism.
Indonesia. 1999. Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption.
Indonesia. 2001. Law No. 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption.
Indonesia. 2002. Law No. 2 of 2002 concerning the Indonesian National Police.
Indonesia. 2003. Government Regulation No. 2 of 2003 concerning Disciplinary Regulations for Members of the Indonesian National Police.
Indonesia. 2008. Law No. 37 of 2008 concerning the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia.
Indonesia. 2011. Presidential Regulation No. 17 of 2011 concerning the National Police Commission.
Indonesia. 2019. Law No. 19 of 2019 concerning the Second Amendment to Law No. 30 of 2002 concerning the Corruption Eradication Commission.
Jackson, Jonathan, Ben Bradford, Mike Hough, Andy Myhill, Paul Quinton, Tom R. Tyler, and others. 2012. “Why Do People Comply with the Law? Legitimacy and the Influence of Legal Institutions.” British Journal of Criminology 52 (6): 1051–1071.
Lindsey, Timothy. 2018. “Indonesian Police Reform: Progress and Continuing Challenges.” Asian Journal of Comparative Law 13 (2): 297–320.
Lindstedt, Catharina, and Daniel Naurin. 2010. “Transparency Is Not Enough: Making Transparency Effective in Reducing Corruption.” International Political Science Review 31 (3): 301–322.
Miller, Seumas. 2006. “Collective Responsibility: A Reply to Brickey and Miller.” Criminal Justice Ethics 25 (2): 12–20.
Near, Janet P., and Marcia P. Miceli. 1995. “Effective Whistle-Blowing.” Academy of Management Review 20 (3): 679–708.
Nix, Justin, and Scott E. Wolfe. 2017. “The Impact of Negative Publicity on Police Self-Legitimacy.” Justice Quarterly 34 (1): 84–108.
Prenzler, Tim, and Carol Ronken. 2001. “Models of Police Oversight: A Critique.” Policing and Society 11 (2): 151–180.
Prenzler, Tim. 2009. Police Corruption: Preventing Misconduct and Maintaining Integrity. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Rhode, Deborah L. 2004. Access to Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tankebe, Justice. 2009. “Public Cooperation with the Police in Ghana: Does Procedural Fairness Matter?” Criminology 47 (4): 1265–1293.
Tankebe, Justice. 2013. “Viewing Things Differently: The Dimensions of Public Perceptions of Police Legitimacy.” Criminology 51 (1): 103–135.
Tyler, Tom R. 2004. “Enhancing Police Legitimacy.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 593 (1): 84–99.
Vandekerckhove, Wim, and David Lewis. 2012. “The Content of Whistleblowing Procedures: A Critical Review of Recent Official Guidelines.” Journal of Business Ethics 108 (2): 253–264.
Walker, Samuel. 2005. The New World of Police Accountability. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wolfe, Scott E., and Justin Nix. 2016. “The Alleged War on Cops: Examining the Effects of Media Coverage of Police Use of Force on Police Legitimacy.” Justice Quarterly 33 (4): 1–25.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All writings published in this journal are the personal views of the authors and do not represent the views of this journal or the authors’ affiliated institutions. Authors retain copyrights without any restriction under the license of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
