Finally, these police officers will be where the action is.
After slugging it out for years against nothing more challenging than pens, papers and computers, 50 policemen doing administrative work at the Northern Police District (NPD) headquarters in Caloocan City will now be up against the bad guys for at least one day a week.
The directive from Chief Superintendent Antonio Decano, district director, is aimed to hit two birds with one stone: To address the lack of beat patrollers in northern Metro Manila, and to ensure that no policeman is idle.
“If you’re a policeman assigned as an encoder in the office and you are done with your work, then you can just sit there and do nothing. Now, we can prevent this kind of situation from happening,” said Supt. Ferdinand del Rosario, NPD public information officer.
The policemen can now use their time productively by serving as part of the additional forces deployed to curb crimes in the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela (Camanava).
The manpower is on top of the estimated 18 policemen already deployed by stations at the local level, Del Rosario said.
He said the move was also a way to bring the Camanava police force a step closer to achieving the ideal policeman to resident ratio, or 1:500, in every city.
At present, one policeman is in charge of securing the safety of 700 to 800 residents in each locality.
“It’s really a different kind of feeling when you work outside,” said Senior Police Officer 2 Ernesto Arroz, chief clerk of the city’s police investigation unit.