Monday, September 10, 2007 PNP cracks down on 'police' fashion
THE Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 will crack down on the unauthorized use of police markings, insignias and uniforms.
PRO 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr. said he already sent campaign directives to the chiefs of police in Central Visayas instructing them to start warning persons against wearing T-shirts marked “police,” camouflage uniforms that have the same patterns as those being used by the PNP and using stickers, insignias and logos that are for official PNP use.
He said they have noticed many persons wearing T-shirts marked “police” or bearing the name of a police unit, cars with police stickers and persons wearing the same camouflage uniforms as their personnel.
He admitted that this was in relation to the observations of the National Police Commission (Napolcom).
Napolcom 7 issued a memorandum instructing the Cebu City Police Office to “immediately” stop barangay tanods or members of the barangay intelligence network (BIN) from wearing polo shirts marked “CIIB” (Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau) during checkpoint operations.
Napolcom 7 Director Bernardo Calibo, in a memorandum dated Aug. 13 to Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador Jr., said allowing tanods to wear the shirts while manning checkpoints is tantamount to misrepresentation and usurpation of public functions.
Alarcio said the first phase of the campaign will begin with making the public aware that it is a violation to use PNP markings if they are not members of the organization.
When they reach the second phase, Alarcio said they will be on the streets, stopping vehicles to remove these markings.
Filing cases
The third phase will mean the filing of cases against those who continue violating these rules.
He also said they will remind stores selling stickers and uniforms to make sure they only sell these items to police officers.
While he admitted that camouflage shirts and pants have become a fashion trend, he said the shade and patterns of these camouflage clothing should be different from the ones prescribed by the PNP to its personnel.
Regional Intelligence Division (RID) Chief Augusto Marquez Jr. said he has required all his operatives to make sure they wear their identification cards and badges when conducting operations.
This was after receiving reports that there were groups conducting illegal activities using the name of their unit.
Marquez said the RID is not the only unit whose name was used in illegal activities, saying the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7 also had similar complaints. (MEA)
