Thursday, January 31, 2008 More cops needed to secure CARAA games
ENSURING the security of the delegates for this year's regional athletic sports meet would require additional police, a police official said.
La Trinidad Police Chief Reynaldo Pawid said they will need additional policemen to secure the four to five thousand delegates who will converge to the town for this year's CARAA.
"We need around 110 additional police officers to secure the billeting areas and the playing venues," he said.
At least 68 personnel of the La Trinidad police will be mobilized for the five-day sports meet, scheduled from February 24 to 28. Aside from securing the delegates, some of the policemen will also be deployed to manage traffic along the town's main thoroughfare.
Pawid is proposing for provincial delegations to be accompanied by at least four officers from their respective provincial or municipal police offices, to provide security at the accommodation sites of the participants.
"We need to ensure a 24-hour security to the billeting areas considering the delegates will be out of their respective accommodation centers most of the time," he stressed.
Eight schools in La Trinidad have been identified as the billeting areas for the CARAA delegates.
"We need to ensure police visibility in the accommodation areas and playing fields to guarantee the safety of the delegates and their belongings," Pawid added.
This, Pawid said, is to avoid a repeat of the problem incurred by delegates from Mountain Province during the CARAA in Kalinga last year, where robbers took away their belongings from their accommodation center. (JC)
