Senator pushes for efficient police academy to outwit crooks

MANILA -- Police academies should be under the direct supervision of the Philippine National Police (PNP) as the current system saw a mismatch between the training expectations and actual services provided by the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC).

Senator Jinggoy Estrada made the call on Thursday in light of a PNP report that the increased number of incidents of crimes in the National Capital Region (NCR) is attributed to crooks that have simply become "smarter."

"I see the case of increased criminality not only a product of poverty, but also of ineffective police instruction and education. Some crooks do it for survival, while some continue to commit crime because they think they will not be caught and can get away with it," Estrada said.

The NCR Police Office (NCRPO) recorded 29,231 crime incidents in Metro Manila during the first half of 2012, which is 57 percent higher compared to the same period last year.

Under Senate Bill 3218, Estrada seeks to amend the Republic Act 6975 or the Department of Interior and Local Government Act of 1990 to transfer the operations of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), the Philippine National Training Institute (PNTI) and the National Police College (NPC) from the PPSC to the PNP.

Doing so, he said, would lessen lapses in coordination of programs and waste of resources especially that the PNP is also conducting its own re-orientation and specialization programs, duplicating those already undertaken by PPSC.

The measure is currently pending approval on second reading. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)