Symbolic Reform and Police Legitimacy in Indonesia

Raissa, Nur Zena Anggita

Kejahatan & Keadilan: Jurnal Kriminologi Indonesia

The Indonesian National Police (Polri) are facing a sustained crisis of legitimacy amid increasing public distrust, digital activism, and intensified external oversight. While reform has been repeatedly promised since the post-authoritarian transition, institutional change remains fragmented and largely symbolic. This article examines Polri’s reform trajectory through a criminological lens, drawing on theories of social solidarity (Durkheim), procedural justice (Tyler), and the sociology of professions (Abbott) to analyze the interaction between external pressures and internal organizational dysfunctions. Using theory-driven qualitative analysis of corruption cases, recruitment controversies, and public trust surveys, the study argues that Polri’s legitimacy crisis is rooted not only in individual misconduct but in structural patterns of patronage, over-centralization, and incomplete professionalization. This study contributes to Indonesian criminology by explaining police reform as an institutional legitimacy problem rather than individual misconduct. It concludes that sustainable reform requires merit-based recruitment, strengthened external oversight, decentralization of authority, and the integration of cognitive–emotional competencies into police professionalization.