Saturday, September 23, 2006 Utilize extra cops properly: Bolodo
With 1,332 additional personnel on their field training program, a lot can be done in crime prevention.
The chief of the Regional Directorial Staff, Senior Supt. Drusillo Bolodo, told reporters yesterday that all police chiefs have to do is utilize them properly.
On top of the Mandaue City Police Office’s 307 personnel, they were augmented with 299 field trainees from other regions.
The Cebu City Police Office received 375 trainees to augment their 906 operatives, while the Cebu Provincial Police Office got 728 on top of their 1,543 personnel.
These field trainees were sent to Cebu to augment the security forces needed for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit this December.
Inspection
Until that summit, the trainees will be tapped for anti-crime campaigns.
The deployment of the field trainees was inspected by the region’s top command officers throughout Metro Cebu last Thursday, after they noted the lack of supervision and orientation.
Bolodo, who was assigned to check the deployment of field trainees in Mactan Island, said he noted minor mistakes when he went around last Thursday.
He said some trainees were just gathered around in a huddle, when they should have been doing the rounds in their assigned areas.
He also noted that some were not wearing the appropriate head gear, something Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr. wants strictly implemented.
Overall, though, he said they were clearly visible in major intersections.
Last Thursday, Alarcio went around the North Bus Terminal and found just one field trainee when there should have been two. Bolodo asked for understanding as the trainees were not familiar with Cebu and needed constant supervision.
He said the assigned supervisors should continuously brief the trainees every time they are sent out and check if their instructions were being complied with.
At the CCPO, Supt. Melvin Gayotin is expecting 100 more policemen to join his office.
These personnel are the new batch of graduates from the Regional Training School.
Gayotin told reporters that he will be distributing the new batch of graduates among the 11 police precincts in the city. He will be prioritizing those precincts with the most crime-prone areas.
CSC warning
Though he first said the sudden increase in petty crime puzzled him, Gayotin commented yesterday that the onset of the yuletide season always sees a rise in such crimes.
Meanwhile, two officials warned that while the proposal to expand anti-crime forces by tapping employees of government agencies is practical and has no legal hindrance, it can also be abused.
David Cabanag, director of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) 7 and vice president of the Association of Regional Executives of National Agencies (Arena), said the role of the government employees in the anti-crime campaign should be clearly identified.
“I don’t have objections. There is no memorandum circular against it, but vague aspects should be avoided. We should discuss the approach and the limits in black and white,” Cabanag said.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has floated the idea of expanding the community-based “Oplan Pakigsandurot” by tapping national government workers in information-gathering, instead of fielding secret marshals on the streets and aboard jeepneys.
He is proposing a meeting with the members of Arena 7 on the idea.
Labor Assistant Regional Director Exequiel Sarcauga suggested that regulations be crafted, to prevent government workers from using the task as an alibi for not reporting to work.
“They could report late or skip work, then say they were helping gather information against criminals in their barangay. That’s going to be a huge problem for us,” Sarcauga pointed out.
Another risk, he added, is that a government employee might use “Oplan Pakigsandurot” to get back at enemies by feeding the wrong information to the police. (MEA/With AIV)
