THE PHILIPPINE National Police needs 10,000 rookie cops to fill up the vacancies left by those who died, were retired or dismissed.
This means 10,000 men and women in uniform who may end up being a burden to the citizenry.
Our cops are among the most undisciplined in the world.
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Congress should amend the law requiring all police applicants to have a college degree.
College undergraduates or those who completed high school are not accepted in the PNP.
That’s the reason why policemen don’t want to direct traffic or patrol the streets on foot because they find these jobs “demeaning.”
A police superintendent (the equivalent of a lieutenant colonel in the military) in Puerto Princesa City once ordered two rookies, new additions to the city police force, to walk to the public market from the police station, a distance of 2 kilometers.
“To see if they would comply with my order, I left a few minutes after I gave my instructions. I found them already there. They didn’t walk but took a tricycle instead,” the superintendent, now retired, told me.
The retired cop said he misses the days when new policemen followed orders to the letter.
“I didn’t finish college to become a servant,” one newly-recruited cop was overheard telling another.
Since they are all college graduates, everybody in the PNP wants to be the boss.
So, when a police inspector (the Army’s equivalent of a lieutenant), who graduates from the Philippine National Police Academy , for example, gives orders to a police officer 1 (PO1) (equivalent to a private in the military), the latter is reluctant to obey.
Why? Because both are baccalaureate degree holders.
In an organization where everybody thinks he is a leader and not a follower, discipline among members runs wild.
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So how do we remedy the chaotic situation at the PNP? Should Congress amend that law requiring a police candidates to be a college graduate?
The PNP should start accepting high school graduates and college undergraduates with a high intelligence quotient.
You see, many policemen are dumb but think they are intelligent even if they acquired their college credentials from diploma mills.
Let the high school graduates or college undergraduates train alongside college degree holders of the police academy where graduates are given the rank of police officer 1 after completing one year of rigorous training.
All policemen must start from the bottom—as PO1—and then work their way up.
Those who are more intelligent than the others or exhibit exemplary performance can become an inspector after a certain period.
The high school graduates or college undergraduates who do well in field assignments or detective work can obtain a Bachelor of Science in Public Safety degree or they can complete their college education in night school while in the service.
High school graduates or college undergraduates are very malleable because they have something to prove in a disciplined and highly competitive organization.
If the PNP accepts high school graduates, it has no use for abusive and corrupt cops who think they are masters instead of public servants.