In Reply to: BALI TOURIST POLICE HOTLINE posted by balicrazy on Monday, 4. June 2007 at 16:01 Bali Time:
There are different levels of police in Bali. The one you had an encounter with sounds like they were traffic police. They get paid pittance. Such requests (and they're 'negotiable') are a means of suplementing their meagre salary. It is the Indonesian way. Palms get greased in business, fines are paid to police. It cuts out the middle man. You break a road rule in western countries, you pay a fine to the government who use the revenue to pay the wages of public servants such as police. You break a road rule in Indonesia, you pay directly to the police.