TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National Police (Polri) Spokesman Ronny F. Sompie responded to the survey result of the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer (GBC) performed by the Transparency International (TI). The survey says the Police is the most corrupt institution in Southeast Asia. Ronny questioned if the respondents in the survey represented the society as a whole.

He explained that there are around 400,000 police officers in Indonesia, spread in various regions. "The survey has to include opinions from people in small regions, whether the police in big cities and small regions have the same attitude," he told Tempo yesterday, July 10.

Ronny said the survey would help the police evaluating and improving their performance. He said the police would welcome any criticism. "We will give heavy punishment to police officers who violate the law, because they give bad image to the police." He also expressed his hope that there would be another survey which would include respondents in small regions.

Earlier, the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer performed by TI found that police institutions in Southeast Asia was scored 3.5, with one being free from corruption and five being absolutely corrupted.

GALVAN YUDISTIRA