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Since the Indonesian police force separated from the military to become an independent institution more than a decade ago, it has had to deal with a variety of challenges. Chief among these has been learning how to police and integrate the community it serves.

To be brutally honest, the police do not enjoy a positive image. They are viewed as being corrupt, unprofessional and even uncaring. A new report by the International Crisis Group provides some insights into the challenges facing police officers, finding increasing public distrust of the institution, manifest in violence against the police.

From August 2010 to January 2012, the ICG recorded 40 mob attacks on police officers and police stations that it said were direct responses to abuse, real or perceived, by the police. The ICG urged the government not to treat these attacks as isolated incidents, claiming they were emblematic of a wider problem.

Building trust is not easy and requires investment in both time and effort. To be fair to the police, officers are often outnumbered and poorly trained in dealing with communal tensions. Furthermore, police officers are only human and when threatened, they will fight back, which further fuels tension.

But as the ICG notes in the report, building trust between the police and the community is vital for preserving and fostering social harmony. The police’s main responsibility is to serve the community by ensuring that disputes can be amicably settled; providing security and even helping out in community projects.

This is where more work needs to be done. The police rightly sees its main priority as enforcing justice and arresting criminals. At times it does this with too much exuberance, which in turn earns it bad press. The police should, however, also raise the importance of community policing so as to integrate themselves with the people they serve.

Community policing is defined as an equal partnership between officers and local communities in resolving and overcoming social problems. Countries including Japan have been highly successful in developing community policing and Indonesia should learn from such examples. The most important change, however, must be in the attitude and raison d’etre of the police force.