MANILA, Philippines — Some 6,400 rookie cops have joined the ranks of the Philippine National Police (PNP) as part of efforts to augment the force and improve the national proportion of police officers to civilians.
The new Police Officer 1s were inducted during simultaneous oath-taking ceremonies administered by regional directors and officials of the National Police Commission nationwide, said Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., PNP spokesman.
Of the recruits, 1,147 were women, said Cruz in a statement. They will undergo training in various camps and spend six months under the Field Training Program, which is similar to on-the-job training in the
private sector.
“They will be exposed to traffic operations, investigation and police patrol system in different police stations,” Cruz said.
Metro Manila registered the highest number of recruits with 812, followed by Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) with 685 and 573, respectively. The other regions had from below 200 to over 500 recruits.
Cruz said the augmentation of the police force fell under Phase 1 of the 2011 PO1 Attrition Recruitment Program aimed at taking in “much needed men and women who want to serve with the PNP.”
At present, police to population ratio stands at one police officer to every 743 persons — well below the ideal of one to every 500, Cruz said.
The PNP expects to recruit about 800 new police officers this year.
Every year, the PNP appoints 3,000 policemen on top of 8,000 replacements for retired, resigned or dismissed personnel.