Police Chief Launches Poliran, a Police Labor-Intensive Program to Curb Unemployment and Crime

The Indonesian National Police is preparing a new program called Poliran—short for Polisi Peduli Pengangguran (Police Care About the Unemployed)—that will target working-age residents without jobs. Police Chief General Suyudi Ario Seto announced the plan after receiving Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions Yandri Susanto at National Police Headquarters on Friday (30/10). The move marks a shift in the police's role from law enforcement to socio-economic intervention, an approach rarely taken so openly.

According to Suyudi, the police view unemployment not merely as an economic problem but as a trigger for potential disruptions to public security and order. The National Police therefore feel the need to be directly involved in reducing the number of residents without jobs. "Unemployment has the potential to cause disruptions to public security and order," he said, as quoted from a press statement.

The program's mechanism relies on the network of Bhayangkara Pembina Keamanan dan Ketertiban Masyarakat (Bhabinkamtibmas), the police's community security officers, who will register and recruit unemployed residents with the help of village facilitators. Once registered, they will undergo training together with the Ministry of Manpower. The National Police will also cooperate with companies in need of workers through memoranda of understanding and cooperation agreements.

In addition to the Ministry of Manpower, the National Police plan to involve the Ministry of Home Affairs to access Vocational Training Centers in every province, as well as the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health's involvement is important because the program also targets drug addicts undergoing rehabilitation. They will be trained in soft skills so they can become productive again after recovery.

"We train them in soft skills, so that our people who essentially have these needs in terms of employment can become productive again after being trained in these soft skills. This is the principle of Poliran," Suyudi said.

The big hope is that the program will curb unemployment while also reducing crime rates. However, several labor observers have questioned the effectiveness of this approach. According to them, the main problem is not the lack of training but the scarcity of available formal jobs. Without certainty of absorption at partner companies, the training risks ending up as a ceremonial activity.

Moreover, police involvement in labor affairs raises questions about the boundaries of the institution's duties. The National Police have law enforcement authority, while unemployment falls within the domain of technical ministries. Nevertheless, Suyudi stressed that this approach is preventive—preventing crime before it happens—rather than taking over the ministries' duties.

The Poliran program also needs to be tested for sustainability. Cooperation with companies through MOUs and cooperation agreements requires long-term commitment, while fluctuating economic conditions may lead companies to reduce their intake of workers. Without an incentive scheme or market guarantee, the placement of training graduates could stall.

Going forward, the public will await the technical details of Poliran: how many participants are in the quota, how long the training lasts, and how the verification mechanism works so the program does not merely chase numbers. If successful, Poliran could become a cross-sector collaboration model worth replicating. But if it fails, it will only add to the list of government programs that stop at the announcement.