Police beef up security for 'ber' months

MANILA -- With less than a hundred days before Christmas, a Metro Manila police district has intensified its security measures to deter crime during and before the holiday season.

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said among its increased anti-crime efforts involves more checkpoints, police visibility, and frequent patrol. There will also be less response time against unlawful activities.

Police Chief Superintendent Mario Dela Vega, QCPD director, said their already intensified anti-criminality campaign is also a way of heeding higher orders of increasing police efforts.

Early this week, Metro Manila police chief Leonardo Espina has urged law enforcers in the metropolis to be "proactive," saying they should be in the streets for 24 hours instead of being "reactive" inside their offices waiting for complaints and reports.

Espina also ordered the deployment of police patrollers in the barangays to ensure police presence for immediate response and intervention against all possible crimes.

He said policemen should respond to crimes within two minutes and those who fail to do so will be relieved from their service.

Last week, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said police troops should not just be on alert status during the so-called "ber" months.

He said police measures should be intensified all-year-round to ensure the security of the public.

Authorities have recorded 29,231 crimes in Metro Manila during the first six months of 2012. This was 57-percent higher than the 18,671 reported crimes during the same period last year. (Emmanuel Louis Bacani/Sunnex)