Monday, October 06, 2008 Police seek KBP help on guidelines for suspects
THE police leadership is now calling on the umbrella group of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) to coordinate with the agency in drawing up rules and regulations for the presentation of crime suspects to the media.
This is so that police would not infringe on the human rights of the suspects.
Newly installed Police Chief Jesus Verzosa has prohibited the presentation of suspects to the media and disallowed offended parties from publicly lambasting the suspect, or even allowing the suspect to be hurt by the family of the victim while in the process of being arrested.
In an interview, Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II has sought the cooperation of the media in police force's bid to uphold the human rights of everyone, including crime suspects.
"A suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty," Caro said.
Although the intent is to uphold the human rights of the suspect, the orders of Verzosa, according to Caro, do not intend to step on the right to information of the people, neither is it intended to bar the press from discussing suspects.
"The KBP should cooperate with us to produce the guidelines, we shall police our own ranks," Caro said.
It has been a common trade for police personnel to parade in front of the media arrested suspects who are believed to have perpetrated high-profile crime incidents. Also, it has been a common practice by some police personnel to allow the offended parties to physically, verbally, and emotionally attack the suspect, even without a conviction from the court. (CPM)
