300 sacked Caloocan cops redeployed to neighboring cities

In what was described by a police official as an “unprecedented revamp,” 300 of Caloocan City’s relieved police officers are being transferred to neighboring areas.

Starting last week, 100 police officers each from Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela have been deployed in batches to Caloocan to take the place of the lawmen who were fired en masse by the National Capital Region Police Office over several controversial operations and the killing of two teenagers.

On standby

Of the 1,200 original members of Caloocan’s police force, 695 have so far been relieved. The remaining 500 others are still awaiting orders.

Aside from the 300 police officers from Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela, 100 lawmen from the Public District Safety Battalion and 150 from the Regional District Safety Battalion have also been transferred to Caloocan City as replacements.

They will play an integral role in “rebuilding the glory of the Caloocan City police station,” Chief Supt. Amando Empiso, Northern Police District (NPD) director, said on Monday.

“This is not the end of the reshuffling. Everyone will be replaced gradually,” Empiso told the Inquirer, adding that despite reports that Davao lawmen would be sent to Caloocan, they were still waiting for volunteers or official orders.

He said that all of Caloocan’s police community precincts (PCPs) were now affected by the relief order. Initially, only officers from PCPs 2, 4 and 7 were covered by the relief order.

Footage taken by a closed circuit television camera released earlier this month showed PCP 4 police officers entering a house without a search warrant and taking the owner’s jewelry, cell phone and money.

On the other hand, members of PCPs 2 and 7 were involved in the death of 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz and 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos under suspicious circumstances in August.

Officers from the three PCPs which made up the initial batch of 295 relieved Caloocan police officers have been sent to Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, for 45 days of retraining.

No retraining for 400

On the other hand, the 400 others who were not involved in any of the controversial operations were given new assignments but not ordered to undergo retraining, Empiso said. Of the total, 300 were assigned to Malabon, Navotas and Caloocan and the remaining 100 were deployed to the District Public Safety Battalion.

In a sendoff ceremony on Friday for the lawmen being transferred to Caloocan City, NPD deputy director for administration, Senior Supt. Eliseo Cruz, acknowledged that it was an “unprecedented revamp” but he told them to be proud that they were chosen as “part of the solution to the problem.”