Tuesday, January 23, 2007 Police note 3 areas to improve crowd control
AFTER the successful celebration of the Sinulog grand parade last Sunday, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) identified three areas that need to be improved.
While no major hitches marred the festival, Acting CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador said they have to work on their sources, route structure and command and control on the ground.
Comendador held a conference with his men yesterday to assess their performance and to discuss what security aspects need to be improved in securing the Sinulog.
He said more policemen must be fielded on the streets for crowd control.
Ropes
More ropes are also needed along carousel routes to keep people from getting near the dancers.
Nevertheless, Comendador said, these observations are lessons learned so they can do better in the future.
Last Sunday night, joint operatives of the Theft and Robbery Section (TRS) and the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau arrested five suspected pickpockets, four of them women.
The suspects were identified as Alex Lanuza, 36, of Pasay City; Sheila Reyes, 30, and Jessisa de Gracia, 27, both of Alabang; Rowena Tess Patiri, 28, of Cavite City; and a 17-year-old woman who is four months pregnant.
Operatives confiscated from the group 19 assorted cellular phones and a digital camera.
The suspects were arrested in a follow-up operation by authorities inside a pension house in Barangay Capitol, Cebu City.
One of them, Comendador said, had been arrested earlier and later squealed during interrogation.
Admitted
Except for Lanuza, the four other suspects admitted the allegation.
They said they arrived from Manila last Friday to victimize people who had come to Cebu City for the Sinulog.
They said stealing cellular phones and other valuables were their only means of survival.
Lanuza, on the other hand, said he did not participate in their crimes.
Lanuza, who once worked in Japan and claimed that he owns two beauty parlors in Manila, said he went with the group only to watch the Sinulog.
He said he even asked the four women to stop their illegal activities and find a decent job.
Reyes, one of the suspects, supported his claim.
She said Lanuza is not a member of their group.
She said he befriended them and asked them to work for his beauty parlor.
Reyes said Lanuza came here with them because they asked him to, in exchange for agreeing to work for him in his parlor.
But according to the information they received, TRS Deputy Chief Michael Anthony Bastes said Lanuza is the group’s financier.
Theft charges will be filed today against the suspects. (JST)
