Cops from NHQ, RHQs will really help increase police visibility
I’M referring to the thousands of police officers and men assigned at the PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame and the 17 other Police Regional and Provincial Offices who could really help beef-up police visibility in the streets in time for the Yuletide season.
Several PNP officers assigned in police stations recently told me that “real frontliners” like them need the assistance of their colleagues in the national, regional and provincial headquarters to patrol the streets and help thwart criminality year-round, not only during the Christmas and New Year festivities and other yearly major events in the country.
The main complaint is that policemen from PNP stations usually have no day-offs during the Yuletide season and other major events unlike their colleagues from Camp Crame and the regional headquarters. “Pag holiday sa buong bansa, holiday din sa Camp Crame pero kami sa field, pag nag-leave ay mapapagalitan,” one officer told me.
Indeed, fielding policemen doing administrative duties to pound the beat at least once or twice a week will help increase police visibility in the streets. For one, sending all available NHQ-based policemen to patrol duties at least once a week in major places of convergence like bus terminals, places of worship, markets, malls and schools and universities in the metropolis would really help boost PNP visibility.
This has been done before and this can be done again as the PNP continues to have an ideal police-to-population ratio. Latest reports said that the current police-to-population ratio is 1:572 while the national standard is 1:500. The United Nations said the ideal police-to-population ratio is one police officer for every 450 citizens.
There is also a need for the PNP leadership to restudy and closely examine the distribution of its uniformed personnel in the entire country.
The PNP assigns 84 percent of its uniformed men to line functions, 8 percent to administrative functions and 8 percent to auxiliary functions.
However, officials have told me there is a need to take a serious look on the disparity on the distribution of policemen particularly in provincial, city, municipal and station levels. I was told that presently, there are a number of provincial police offices in much bigger provinces which have less personnel than PPOs in areas with lesser population and much smaller in size.
The same distribution problem is also being experienced in city, municipal and police station levels. To illustrate my point, let’s say this police station has only less than 300 police personnel to enforce the law and keep peace order in a big city with a very huge population.
However, another police station has more than 400 policemen doing the same job in a much smaller city with a much smaller population.
There are also police sub-stations with 8, 12, 20 or 40 personnel assigned to guard 3, 6 or 8 heavily-populated barangays.
What will happen if personnel in these stations are assigned to serve warrants of arrest or search warrants, conduct surveillance or respond to other emergencies like road accidents. What will happen if some of their colleagues are on emergency leave?
Some friends from the force told me there are cases wherein the police-to-population ratio is 1:3,000 or even higher. Responding to distress calls is also not really that easy in Metro Manila due to heavy traffic.
Thus, there have been suggestions to transfer more policemen from other peaceful regions to crime-prone areas in Metro Manila as well as Central Luzon and Calabarzon regions. There is a need to take a better look at crime statistics and crime analysis here.
Deployment of administrative cops to weekly beat patrols will really help thwart criminals waiting for their next targets in the streets. Much-improved police visibility in the vicinity of shopping malls, busy markets, public transport terminals and schools really frighten lawless elements. It will also give police a better chance to catch a fleeing criminal as soon as the crime is reported.
I heard from some friends one particular case in Pasay City wherein a combination of uniformed and plainclothes police officers have really stopped incidents of robbery-snatching and pickpocketing victimizing tourists near the MOA complex. The reason: some of the criminals waylaid their targets as soon as the uniformed cops left the place not knowing that plainclothes officers remained in the area to catch them.
There is also a need for the police force to fully tap the support of the community as well as private security guards in reporting crimes in police hotlines as soon as they happen. Quick reporting of crimes is a must since a motorcycle-riding gunman or a thief may easily escape if the call is made 5-minutes late.
However, I would cite statistics which say that the country’s crime volume-particularly the 8 focus crimes- is really going down despite the country’s lack of policemen. Kudos go to PNP chief General Rommel Marbil and his men.
The top cop earlier said they are increasing their presence on the ground to protect holiday-goers during the Yuletide season. He said he has directed intensified security operations to ensure public safety, prevent criminal activities and address political security challenges.
“The presence of uniformed personnel in public areas is a reassurance of our dedication to protecting the public. We aim to provide peace of mind during the holiday rush,” Gen. Marbil said even as he urged the public to remain vigilant by verifying transactions and avoiding suspicious links as online scams and fraud proliferate during the holidays.
Police will be barred from seeking vacation leaves starting December 15 except in emergency cases. In Metro Manila, NCRPO director, Brigadier Gen. Anthony Aberin said they won’t give criminals the opportunity to strike amid their increased visibility in the streets which he said has also led to a 27.93 percent crime rate drop in the metropolis during the 1st week of December.
