Monday, October 16, 2006 Cops told to list, watch all banks, pawnshops in Cebu
FOLLOWING the twin robberies that hit moneylending firms in Cebu City recently, the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) warned all units under its command to keep a tighter watch over similar establishments in their areas of responsibility.
In a memorandum issued Thursday, the CPPO asked all police stations to list all financial firms, including banks, lending firms, pawnshops and moneychangers, in their jurisdictions.
On Oct. 5, robbers struck A1 Micro Finance Inc. and Asialink Finance Corp., both located near the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 and the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), respectively.
Security lectures
The CPPO memo stressed that both firms being near top police offices, and the increased police visibility because of Mindanao policemen on field training here, did not dissuade the robbers from pulling the heists, which they did in a span of just 20 minutes.
The station chiefs were directed to do a survey and review all security measures of the establishments to make them difficult targets of criminal groups.
“Conduct lectures for all security managers of these firms on the three-tiered defense system and inculcate in them the importance of their cooperation in prevention of crimes,” read the memorandum.
They were told to maximize the use of media in the campaign to raise the community’s level of awareness against crime.
The three-tiered defense system includes intelligence-gathering, target hardening and incident management.
The Provincial Intelligence and Investigation Branch will collate the list, along with the reports on strengths and vulnerabilities of the establishments’ security systems. (MEA)
