The Primary Duties of a Security Guard in Indonesia

The primary duties of a security guard in Indonesia, known locally as Satpam, are set out in Article 16(2) of National Police Regulation No. 4 of 2020 on Self-Managed Security (Perpol 4/2020). There are two of them. The first is to maintain security and order at the workplace and its surroundings across four areas: physical security, personnel security, information security, and other technical security. The second is to protect and safeguard the people at that site. Those four areas are also the boundary. Step outside the work environment, and a Satpam's authority ends.

One note before going further. Most articles on this topic still cite Article 6 of National Police Regulation No. 24 of 2007 to explain what a Satpam does. That reference is dead. Perpol 4/2020, signed by National Police Chief Idham Azis on 5 August 2020, revoked the Satpam provisions in Perpol 24/2007 along with Perpol 23/2007 on Neighborhood Security Systems.

Where a Security Guard's Authority Comes From

Article 3(1) of Law No. 2 of 2002 on the Indonesian National Police names the bodies that carry the police function: the National Police (Polri), assisted by special police, civil-servant investigators, and forms of self-managed security. The Elucidation to Article 3(1)(c) defines self-managed security as protection organized on the initiative, awareness, and interest of the community itself, later formalized by Polri. Neighborhood Satpam units and private security companies fall into this category.

The police authority attached to self-managed security is limited to a "territorial jurisdiction" (teritoir gebied or ruimte gebied): residential areas, work environments, and educational settings. A Satpam posted at an office complex, a shopping center, an industrial estate, a logistics warehouse, or a residential compound operates within that line and no further.

Article 1(2) of Perpol 4/2020 defines a Satpam as a unit or professional group carrying a limited, non-judicial police function. That phrase, "non-judicial," decides a lot on the ground. A breach of company rules handled by a Satpam stays internal and never reaches a courtroom. The moment an incident becomes a criminal matter, it goes to Polri.

The Four Areas Inside a Security Guard's Primary Duties

Article 16(2)(a) breaks the primary duties into four areas. Here is what each one covers and what it looks like day to day.

The fourth area gets underrated. Yet at a data center, an industrial estate, or a distribution warehouse, most of a guard's working hours go there: watching screens, answering alarms, and deciding whether an anomaly needs escalation or not.

The Two Roles: Support to Management and Partner to Police

Article 16(3) of Perpol 4/2020 names two roles for a Satpam:

1. Primary support to the leadership of the organization, company, or government institution using the Satpam, in maintaining security and order across the work environment.

2. Partner to Polri in maintaining public security and order, enforcing laws and regulations, and building security awareness within the work environment.

This is a step up from Perpol 24/2007, which cast the Satpam as an "auxiliary element" of both management and the police. The new wording is primary support and partner. That shift in language should change how a company treats its security function: not as a formality, but as part of the security structure itself.

The Competencies Required Before Doing the Job

Nobody puts on the uniform and starts working the gate. Article 27 of Perpol 4/2020 requires three-tiered competency qualifications:

• Gada Pratama, the basic level with an operative qualification. Every Satpam candidate must hold it before serving.

• Gada Madya, the intermediate level with a supervisor qualification.

• Gada Utama, the managerial level with a manager qualification, covering task analysis, resource management, and the design of security simulations.

Training runs through Polri education institutions or licensed private security companies (BUJP) holding a permit from the National Police Chief, with a curriculum built on SKKNI No. 259 of 2018 and Decree KEP/54/I/2023. Beyond the training certificate, a Satpam must carry a Member ID Card (KTA) issued by the regional police (Polda) and have clear employment status.

For the full breakdown of duration, curriculum, and career path at each qualification, see our article on the three Satpam training levels: Gada Pratama, Madya, and Utama.

What a Security Guard Is Allowed to Do

1. Search people and belongings

This is the most visible part of the job. In an office lobby, at a mall entrance, or at a factory gate, a Satpam checks whether someone is carrying an item that shouldn't come in. The basis is the duty to maintain security and order in the work environment, plus the Satpam's position as an assistant to Polri in enforcing regulations.

There is still a procedure. The guard asks permission before searching, states the reason, and keeps it reasonable. If a prohibited or suspicious item turns up, the finding goes to a supervisor and, depending on how serious it is, to Polri. It doesn't get handled solo to the end.

2. Ask someone to wait and hold access

A Satpam has to make sure nobody enters the facility without authorization. If a person can't produce adequate documents or identification, the guard can ask them to wait in the reception area while confirming with the relevant unit. Holding access is not the same as detaining a person. The first is legitimate; the second is not.

3. Make an arrest in the case of tertangkap tangan

Watch the term: tertangkap tangan, being caught in the act (in flagrante delicto). Since 2 January 2026, the governing law is Law No. 20 of 2025, the new Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP), which repealed Law No. 8 of 1981. So Article 111 of the old KUHAP, quoted almost everywhere online, no longer applies.

Article 95(4) of Law No. 20 of 2025 states that an arrest in the case of being caught in the act is made without an arrest warrant. Article 95(5) continues: the party making the arrest must immediately hand over the person, together with any evidence, to an investigator or assistant investigator.

Two words carry that clause: immediately and hand over. A guard who catches a thief in the warehouse is not conducting an investigation. He holds the situation for a moment, then hands it off. Interrogating, detaining for hours, or delivering any kind of punishment falls well outside his authority.

4. Enforce internal rules on a non-judicial basis

Stopping an employee from smoking in a restricted area, moving a badly parked car, closing off access to a limited zone. The sanctions are administrative and run through the company's internal process. No official report, no case file.

What a Security Guard Is Not Allowed to Do

1. Use force beyond necessary defense

This is the point most often explained wrong. Force is not automatically justified just because someone tries to push their way in.

The new Criminal Code (Law No. 1 of 2023), in effect since 2 January 2026, covers necessary defense (noodweer) in Article 34: a person who is forced to commit a prohibited act is not punished, provided the act was done to defend themselves or another, their honor in the sense of decency, or property belonging to themselves or another, against an unlawful attack or immediate threat of attack.

The Elucidation to Article 34 sets four conditions at once:

1. There is an unlawful attack or immediate threat of attack.

2. There is no other way to repel it (subsidiarity).

3. The interest being defended is limited to oneself, another person, decency, or property.

4. There is proportionality between the defense and the attack received.

All four have to hold together. If the defense goes beyond the limit because of a severe mental shock, the matter moves to Article 43 of Law No. 1 of 2023. The practical rule is plain: call the police, secure the site, and use force only to the extent needed to stop an attack already underway.

2. Carry or use weapons without police permission

A T-baton and handcuffs matching police specifications are part of the Satpam uniform under the Annex to National Police Regulation No. 1 of 2023, the amendment to Perpol 4/2020. Past that, the story changes. The same Annex states that electric stun devices, tear gas, and firearms are used according to the conditions of the work environment and require a permit or letter of authorization from Polri.

For firearms specifically, National Police Regulation No. 1 of 2022 provides that a non-organic Polri/TNI firearm assigned to a Satpam may only be carried and used while on duty in the work environment, backed by a Loan-Use Possession Permit (KIPP) issued by the regional police. Without that permit, a guard carrying a firearm is breaking the law, not merely a company policy.

3. Take over the criminal process

Seizing goods as evidence, examining someone's phone, or holding a person for longer than the brief handover to police are not within a Satpam's authority. All of that is coercive action, which Law No. 20 of 2025 locks to investigators. The non-judicial boundary applies here without exception.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the primary duties of a Satpam under Perpol 4/2020? To maintain security and order at the workplace and its surroundings, covering physical, personnel, information, and other technical security, and to protect and safeguard the people at that site (Article 16(2)).

Can a Satpam search visitors? Yes, as long as it happens within the work environment, with the permission of the person being searched, and within reason. This kind of check is part of maintaining security and order, not a pro justitia search.

Can a Satpam arrest someone? Only in the case of being caught in the act, without a warrant, and the guard must immediately hand the person and any evidence to an investigator or assistant investigator (Article 95(4) and (5) of Law No. 20 of 2025).

Can a Satpam carry a firearm? Only with a Loan-Use Possession Permit (KIPP) from the regional police, and only while on duty in the work environment (Perpol 1/2022).

How is a Satpam's job different from a police officer's? A Satpam carries a limited, non-judicial police function within the work environment and works preventively. Polri carries the full police function, including investigation and repressive action, with no work-environment limit.

Matching a Security Guard's Duties to Your Site

The primary duties of a security guard at an office tower are not the same as at a data center or a distribution warehouse. The regulation is identical; the weight of those four security areas is very different. Get the mix of personnel and systems wrong, and you end up paying more without lowering the risk.

SECOM Indonesia provides trained, certified guards who carry out the primary duties of a Satpam in line with Perpol 4/2020, paired with electronic security systems connected to a 24-hour control center. This Man-Machine approach is what keeps the technical-security area from stopping at the monitor screen.

Contact SECOM for a consultation on the security systems and personnel your business site needs.