Cops’ new anticrime weapons: Flyers, leaflets

LUCENA CITY—The Quezon police force is using nonviolent means to conquer lawless elements and criminality: The distribution of crime prevention flyers and leaflets to citizens.

“We have yet to complete the comparative crime index but based on the initial figures, the distribution of flyers and leaflets has resulted in low number of crime incidents in most municipalities,” said Senior Supt. Ronaldo Genaro Ylagan, Quezon police chief, on Thursday.

Ylagan said they started the distribution of flyers and leaflets last April to coincide with the implementation of “Oplan Lambat Sibat,” an intensified anticrime campaign of the Philippine National Police.

The distribution of printed educational materials in streets, markets, schools, churches, malls and other public places helped heighten the awareness of the citizens on various modus operandi of criminal elements, said Ylagan.

“The police cannot fight crime alone without the support and cooperation of the community,” he stressed.

The flyers and leaflets contain information on basic security and safety measures at home and in the streets to prevent being victimized by lawless elements; crime prevention tips for students as part of anticrime drive in schools; drug prevention and awareness; and safety reminders for parents, schoolchildren, motorists, even inside shopping malls.

He said police stations in the 39 towns and two cities of Quezon each has its own anticrime campaign focusing on the crimes prevalent in their respective community.

The distribution process has also served to “get to know the police better,” according to Ylagan, citing feedback from PNP personnel, often policewoman, tasked to distribute the anticrime reading materials.

“The distribution serves as the friendship bridge between the cops and the people,” he added, with residents now calling their local policemen by their names.

The flyers also contained the local police station’s Facebook page and mobile phone numbers.

“Our Facebook page serves as the window where the whole community can see what we’re doing,”  Ylagan said.

“We’re looking for some generous donors from the community to help us in the printing. The more flyers we distribute the more it will result to a peaceful community,” Ylagan said.

A college student here told the Inquirer that she and her friends planned to join the police project, as “it is a worthy project especially for the youth in the community, particularly the antidrug campaign.”

She said they were pooling funds and resources for the printing materials.