Ms. Sri Kusmariaty (left) and Mr. Anzai Toshiya (right)

More and more people have started to know that currently there is cooperation between the Indonesian national police (POLRI) and Japan's national police agency (NPA) for the police reform in Indonesia. Yet, little is known that behind it, there are two unique individuals: a retired Police Brigadier General and a former JOCV (judo instructor), who have been playing significant roles in building and keeping the relationship between the two countries for a common goal: to help create a loved and trusted POLRI in the eyes and hearts of the Indonesian people.

In order to get a more complete picture, let us go back in time, more than 20 years from now.

How it all began.....
It all started when this Indonesian policewoman, Brigadier General (Retired) Dra. Sri Kusmariaty, MBA (whom we will call as "Ibu Sri" from here on), was posted at POLRI's Interpol (International Police). During her 13-year term there, including being as the Deputy Chief, Ibu Sri was able to develop relationships and cooperation with other countries' police agencies, including Japan. During that time (1980s), there was no special support program of the Japanese Government to Indonesia for police yet since Japanese ODA policy did not allow assistance to the military and POLRI was still a part of the National Armed Forces (ABRI). "Japan's technical assistance was still limited to JICA's training in Japan under the "Group Training" scheme, focusing on drugs control, crime investigation, etc. I regularly discussed with the Embassy of Japan (especially the Police Attaché) and the JICA office in Jakarta on possibilities for cooperation, especially for the purpose of improving the capacity of Indonesian police personnel," stated Ibu Sri during an exclusive interview with JICA. Finally her efforts paid off, as her first proposal to JICA for a judo instructor was approved. The first to be dispatched to Indonesia for the position in 1988 was Mr. Anzai Toshiya (whom we will call "Anzai-san" from here on). He was also a member of the first batch of JICA's Junior Expert (JOCV) program for Indonesia. His assignment was arranged by Ibu Sri at the policewomen's school in Pasar Jumat, South Jakarta. That was the beginning of a long friendship between the 2 individuals.

Ms. Sri Kusmariaty

Professional to Personal Relations
During his term, Anzai-san, who actually holds a Bachelor Degree in Architecture, instructed the modern Japanese martial art not only to policewomen, but also Police and National athletes. Through the hard work of Anzai-san and his students, the 4th rank Dan holder was able to bring some of them to the South East Asia (SEA) Games and even to the Barcelona Olympics, which were the highlights of his career. Especially for the SEA Games, the judo athletes were recorded of contributing many gold medals for Indonesia.

Little he knew when first arriving in this country that he will find his "other half" here. She was his colleague at the school, a fellow judo instructor. They finally tied the knot 4 years after their first meeting. The wedding was held in Indonesia after Anzai-san became a Senior JOCV, and Ibu Sri played a significant role in making the wedding a success. "She is like our mother. Especially as my wife's parents have already passed away when we married, Ibu Sri and husband became our 'parents,'" expressed Anzai-san. Currently he lives with his Sundanese wife and 4 children in Jakarta.

POLRI as Part of Military
As a person who had the chances to visit Japan several times, Ibu Sri observed how different the Japanese police officers were with their Indonesian counterparts in terms of organization, work ethics, and attitudes. She saw the Japanese police officers as highly dedicated and filled with a sense of responsibility. "The most important thing is their sincere attitude in helping and serving the public in need of their service," she explained. That is exactly what she thought Indonesian police should learn from Japan. When Ibu Sri first joined the Police Science College (PTIK) in 1963, the Indonesian Police was still under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) and the members were Civil Servants. Yet, in 1966, the Police became part of ABRI along with the 3 Forces (Armed, Navy, and Air). The Police then started to utilize the same attributes and positions as the military. In fact, its educational system became militaristic as well. "As law enforcers, the Police tended to take the military approach, which was inclined more with violence. That was why the Indonesian public tended to be afraid of the Police, and preferred to keep their problems to themselves rather than ask for the Police's help," reasoned Ibu Sri who has had a lot of cooperation and studies about police organization and activities in many countries.

Larger Scale Cooperation
The idea of expanded cooperation between Japan and Indonesia for supporting POLRI was first expressed in 1998 by the then Indonesian Police Chief who visited Japan. At that time, there was already rumor circulating that the Police will soon be separated from the Military. He shared this idea with Ibu Sri, who was then already retired from POLRI but was working for JICA Indonesia as an Advisor for Police and Security Matters. She then coordinated with the Interpol and soon an official proposal (which she helped formulize) was submitted by the Police Chief to the Government of Japan through the Embassy of Japan, which was later approved by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). As a follow-up, an expert team led by Mr. Yamazaki Hiroto was dispatched to Indonesia to conduct surveys at the Headquarters (Mabes POLRI) as well as some regional police to find out what were the needs of POLRI for its Reform. "Yamazaki-san already had the aspiration to help POLRI when he was still a First Secretary in the Embassy of Japan during the 80s," stated Anzai-san.

Adoption of Community Policing System (POLMAS) to Create Civilian Police
Finally, POLRI was officially separated from the military in 2001. Soon afterwards, "Support Program for the Police Reform in Indonesia" was launched with the dispatch of Yamazaki-san as the first Japanese police official to serve as both Manager of the Indonesian Police Support Program and Advisor to the Indonesian Police Chief. The Program includes a pilot project that started on August 1, 2002 (for 5 years) in Bekasi Police Resort for the purpose of creating 'Civilian Police' that could earn the trust of the people. The Program was managed by Yamazaki-san and coordinated by Anzai-san along with some Japanese experts for police management, police activities in the field, identification techniques, command & communication control system, etc including the project to develop Tourism Police in Bali. The program also provided chances for Indonesian police officers from various levels to visit Japan and learn about the Japanese Police and its 'community policing' system. The visits inspired POLRI in October 2005 to adopt the Community Policing System of Japan in Indonesia by creating its own system called 'Perpolisian Masyarakat (POLMAS),' in which the police opens itself to the public and asks community members to become its partner in creating peace and stability within their respective areas.

Under the cooperation, Japan helped build several police posts called BKPM ('Balai Kemitraan Polisi dan Masyarakat'), which were adopted from the 'Koban' in Japan; while the Indonesian Police side also built its own 'Balai POLMAS,' which were adopted from the 'Chuzaisho' in Japan. Both types could be found in Bekasi city and regency. In fact, Bekasi now has all-women police post called 'BKPM Mekar Sari,' something not even Japan has. The Bekasi police have much improved capacity now. Police personnel from other regions come to Bekasi to learn or the Bekasi police personnel go to other regions to teach.

Life as a Coordinator
The five-year program was then extended for another 5 years from 2007 to 2012. Anzai-san was reappointed as the Program Coordinator. This 2008 will be the 20th year since he first started working in Indonesia. When asked to recall the most memorable moment during his time here, he stated the 'Bali Bombing I' in October 2002. "I was there for a rugby match when it happened..... I lost 6 foreigner friends at the 'Sari Club.' " As Japanese experts were requested to support the investigation at the scenes, Anzai-san stayed there for about 2 weeks, searching through the rubbles, looking for people's identifications. "I could still remember the terrible smell of burnt materials and stench of death. But the worst part was finding my friends' IDs and returning them to their families at home," he recollected in bitterness. Since then, he always visits 'Ground Zero' each time he goes to Bali.

When asked whether he as a person has changed during the past 20 years, the 48-year old native of Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture) thinks he has not changed much. One thing he began to realize more these past 5 years is the importance of relationships with others, whether it is professional or personal.

Mr. Anzai Toshiya

The POLRI: Now and Future
Surveys held by AC Nielsen have shown significant improvements in Indonesian people's image of the police and its professional skills. Yet this is still limited to the Bekasi area. Meanwhile, a survey held by KOMPAS Newspaper on July 1, 2008, showed that 60.5% of respondents stated that POLRI's image is still bad and the professionalism is still low. The reason was mostly based on the illegal levies still collected by many police officers for permits (issuance of driver's license, etc) and case handling (traffic violations, etc).

Compared with Japan's NPA, Ibu Sri sees POLRI as very much lagging behind. "Even NPA needed 30 years to become how it is now. POLRI still has many shortcomings and it will take a long time to become professional, dedicated, responsible, sincere, and effective. But step-by-step the bad images must be changed. POLRI has many challenges. Even though it is moving into a better direction, even 1 or 2 trivial bad cases could easily tarnish their image. It must also cover a vast area, as Indonesia is a very big country. Moreover, we still have to deal with the problem of low income. In Japan, police officers do not need to worry about income, so they can focus on their job. But here, police salary could be finished in only a week. That is also why illegal levies could still be found here and there," expressed Ibu Sri.

ANZAI-san agreed that POLRI, at least Bekasi Police, is moving in better direction. Yet, it is not perfect and all sides must continue to work very hard. "I think illegal levies are still sort of a culture here. The problem is that the public also agrees to give money to the police when asked since many of them want a quick solution. Therefore, a better culture must be fostered by both sides: the public and the police. Education plays important role in this," stated Anzai-san.

When asked what their hopes are for POLRI in the future, Ibu Sri stated that "POLRI must be loved by the public. It must also be independent, not counting on Japan's support. It all depends on the commitment of the National Police Chief and all the police personnel. They have been given the foundation and support to stand on their own. Now they must learn to walk by themselves. As for alumni members who received JICA training, they should not forget what they have learned and put them into practice as future leaders."

Anzai-san also acknowledged the importance of the alumni, who now have their own association called ISI ('Ikatan Sakura Indonesia'). His side wishes to cooperate with them in disseminating the results of the JICA project, which hopefully will not only improve POLRI technically but also professionally.

Final Words from the Two
There was another thing that Ibu Sri feels POLRI must consider, that is, a token of appreciation towards all the Japanese individuals who have dedicated their works to this purpose. "We know that the then NPA's Deputy Chief Yoshimura was bestowed with a Police Award of 'Bhayangkara Utama' when he visited Jakarta in July 2007. POLRI should also consider bestowing other of Police Awards to the Japanese police officers and individuals who have been involved in managing and developing the cooperation, such as Yamazaki Hiroto, Uematsu Shinichi, Takeuchi Naoto, Anzai Toshiya, and others,"she stressed.

ANZAI-san's final notes were dedicated to Ibu Sri. "As a son, I wish for Ibu Sri to have a long and enjoyable life."