MANILA, Philippines—To beef up its anticrime campaign, the Philippine National Police will install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in 38 police stations and 100 crime-prone areas in Metro Manila.
For each police station, three CCTVs will be placed strategically, while in five police District Headquarters, four will be installed.
Police Director Carmelo Valmoria, National Capital Region Police Office chief, said in a phone interview, that as of January, 24 police stations have been installed with CCTVs.
“During the second phase of distribution, CCTVs will be put in 100 crime-prone areas. The procurement will finish by February,” Valmoria added.
This is part of the PNP’s crime prevention program Operation Plan Lambat Sibat, which Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and the PNP leadership presented during their media roadshow November last year.
Aside from the police stations, the PNP and the Department of Interior and Local Government will put CCTVs in 100 “high-crime” areas including places of convergence, public places, malls, terminals in Metro Manila.
The Oplan Lambat Sibat is the PNP and DILG’s long-term anticrime plan making use of data analysis of reported crime statistics to pinpoint criminals and execute police operations.
This was rolled out for Metro Manila in June. The weekly reporting of crime statistics resulted in the relief of NCR’s four top police officials.
Earlier last year, Roxas said the Oplan Lambat Sibat will be cascaded to the regions if it will turn out successful in Metro Manila.
Also in March, the PNP will start making digital the reporting of crime in each police station in the metro.
Old blotter reports will be scrapped as these would be replaced by the incident record form (IRF).
“The IRF will serve as the complainant’s receipt and a reference number will also be provided so victims can track down the progress of their complaints,” Roxas said in a statement.
Amid the criticisms hounding the PNP for its alleged failure to curb crime incidents in the country, the 150,000-strong organization will be getting around 1,000 new patrol vehicles, more than 5,000 firearms, and more than 52,000 radios.
Roxas said the PNP will be receiving new equipment “sometime between the second and third quarters of the year.”
“We want our men and women in blue to ‘move, shoot, and talk’ better so they can combat crime more effectively,” he added.
RELATED STORIES
20 Metro zones under PNP security mantle
Roxas sacks 4 of 5 Metro top cops to boost fight vs crime