Indonesian Police Perception On #Percumalaporpolisi

PercumaLaporPolisi, Indonesian for “it is useless to report to the police”, has emerged as a form of public protest directed at the Indonesian police’s professionalism in handling citizen crime reports. Following the hashtag’s emergence, the media highlighted several negative incidents that could undermine public trust in the police. This paper explores how frontline police officers perceive the PercumaLaporPolisi phenomenon. Data were collected through online semi-structured interviews with nine criminal investigators from different regions of Indonesia. The findings indicate that police officers viewed the phenomenon unfavourably, particularly when amplified by the media. Although this PercumaLaporPolisi phenomenon had a minor negative effect on officers’ sense of self-legitimacy, the impact was not substantial. Furthermore, officers largely supported their supervisors’ responses, as they considered the issue as having only limited personal consequences. This study contributes to the literature on police perceptions, negative publicity, self-legitimacy, and organisational justice, and offers practical insights for Indonesian police leaders in formulating strategies to address similar challenges. Future studies should employ quantitative approaches and focus on officers who are directly affected by PercumaLaporPolisi.