Lucena police chief sacked over sleeping cops on duty

LUCENA CITY – The chief of Lucena City police station was relieved from his post on Wednesday after the top regional police official found only seven policemen, some of them allegedly sleeping while on duty at the local headquarters early Wednesday.

“This is a warning to all chief of police in the Calabarzon. Yung RD nyo ay hindi natutulog, so wala kayong karapatang matulog sa istasyon nyo (Your RD doesn’t sleep, so you don’t have the right to sleep in your station),” Brig. Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr., the new director of the Calabarzon police, said in an interview with journalists here.

He added: “Kung patulog-tulog kayo sa pansitan, talagang tatanggalin ko kayo.” (If you are negligent, I will really remove you)

It was learned that Danao made a surprise inspection of the local police station located in the city proper around 2 a.m.

Danao said he found that of more than 100 policemen assigned in the city, only seven were at the station and some were napping on the job.

Danao said he immediately ordered the relief of Lt. Colonel Reydante Ariza as the local police chief and asked him to return to the regional police headquarters in Camp Vicente Lim in Canlubang, Laguna.

Danao stressed the importance of maximizing police visibility in crime prevention.

He warned that if he found policemen sleeping while he was doing the rounds, “I will relieve you immediately.”

The Inquirer tried to contact Ariza through his mobile phone, but to no avail.

Colonel Audie Madrideo, Quezon police director, confirmed Danao’s order sacking Ariza.

Lt. Col. Von June Nuyda, Quezon police deputy director, was assigned as Lucena police officer-in-charge effective Wednesday.

Ariza’s relief immediately spread like wildfire among reformed and rehabilitated local drug users.

“Sir Ariza was a key factor in our decision to stop our illegal activities and reform ourselves. He was sincere in his appeal, but tough and uses an iron fist to those who disobey,” said “Mario,” a drug surrenderer in Barangay Cotta.

His co-volunteers in the ongoing “Oplan Magilas,” a city-wide police anti-criminality campaign, predicted that with Ariza’s relief, the illegal drugs menace would return to the city.

Ariza has been the local chief of police for one year and was credited for the arrest and surrenders of drug pushers and users in the city. /lzb