| Most police studies related to traffic law enforcement concerned drunk driving and have been conducted in developed countries, such as the U.S.A., the United Kingdom and Australia. These evaluations seldom focused on police decision making, nor have they been done in developing countries like Indonesia. There, and especially in big cities such as Jakarta, the seriousness of traffic problems and the poor performance of police officers pose a major challenge for the police.;An empirical study of Indonesian police traffic decisions was called for in order to provide guidance for the rational formulation of traffic enforcement policies. The research was designed to assess actual patterns of traffic police decision making and to identify those factors that best account for these actions. The investigator utilized field research methods in an exploratory study of this phenomenon. Data collection included a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches which were utilized in a natural setting over a three-month period. Overall 2,444 traffic violations were observed directly by the researcher. Semistructured interviews were then conducted with 230 street-level officers, 27 managerial-level officers, and 51 drivers. A number of relevant organizational documents were also examined.;This research provides detailed information regarding the characteristics of Jakarta's traffic police decision-making procedures. The results obtained may confirm and/or clarify those derived in previous studies or they may be unique to Indonesia. Study data revealed that selective enforcement is commonplace in this setting. Offender characteristics, such as gender, socioeconomic status, and attitude/demeanor were found to be related to decisional outcomes. In addition, a majority of officers were observed participating in illegal settlements ("damai" solution). Various interrelated factors that input in these actions are identified. These include such factors as the officer's individual demographical characteristics, organizational and social environments, and situational factors.;The study concludes with several recommendations for future research and also identifies and discusses various policy implications of the research. The latter include the need to develop a clear organizational enforcement policy, the improvement of supervision activities for controlling officers' discretionary decisions, the rational allocation of existing resources, and a critical review of the current system of traffic law law enforcement. |
