Not perfect, but working hard to be the best.
Communities in Benguet may not give their police force perfect scores, but their feedbacks on the performance of their men and women in uniform has so far validated the latter’s hard work and dedication in attaining their vision of becoming a highly credible organization.
From their grooming to the way they deal with the public, among the other aspects of policing, personnel of Benguet’s municipal police stations have so far gained “good” to “exceptional” ratings from stakeholders.
The Benguet Police Provincial Office Technical Working Group (TWG) initiated last year a community validation to get the public’s impressions of the men and women in uniform and secure recommendations on how they could improve their services. This is in line with the institutionalization stage of Patrol Plan 2030, a program that aims to transform the institution into a “highly capable, effective, and credible police service.”
Police in the towns of Bakun, Kapangan, Kibungan, and Sablan earned positive feedback from their conduct of regular patrolling and their amiable approach when dealing with community members.
In Bokod, Kabayan, and Itogon, stakeholders appreciated the regular conduct by the police of lectures about crime prevention, anti-bullying, and drug abuse prevention, especially among the school children. The local police have also been serving as guides to tourists.
In Atok, Buguias, and Mankayan, the communities have attested to their local police’s courtesy, discipline, and dedication to their duties and likewise lauded their regular conduct of lectures to enhance public awareness on crime and drug abuse prevention, among other topics.
In all 10 police stations, community members who were randomly interviewed by the BPPO TWG during the community validation said they have not encountered drunken cops while on duty so far and attested their police officers are always at their best demeanors when dealing with the public.
While stakeholders vouched for the dedication of their local police in fulfilling their duties, one common request was for cops to be detailed in areas with established community police actions centers to help residents feel better secured.
The Tuba, La Trinidad, and Tublay police stations are set for community validation this year.
The PNP Patrol Plan 2030 has placed the country’s men and women in uniform under tight scrutiny and required them to enhance their competence in all aspects of policing so they could gain public support to their plans and programs, as the institution endeavors to become a highly capable, effective, and credible police service.
Four perspectives have been adopted as strategies to realize the vision of the PNP transformation agenda.
Among these is resource management, which calls for the police to have enough resources and maximize its use with transparency and accountability. This has also emphasized the importance of local government unit and other stakeholder support to the PNP to help them in fulfilling their mandate.
Among other things, LGUs are expected to help provide for lots for the establishment of “standard” police offices and allocation of funds to add to the maintenance and other operating expenses allotted by the national office to the police stations.
In Bokod, Mayor Thomas Wales and Councilor Erik Don Ignacio said they realize the allocation they are giving their local police may not be that much, but they readily provide additional support when the need arises.
Under the learning and growth perspective, Patrol Plan 2030 is developing “competent, motivated, and values-oriented police personnel” is prioritized to ensure that they are able to perform their duties.
This is complemented by the third perspective – process excellence – which emphasizes on the improvement of crime prevention and control and enhancing community safety awareness.
At the pinnacle of the transformation program is the community, which is envisioned to be served by highly capable PNP personnel.
Personnel of Benguet PPO are not spared from the scrutiny and high expectation from the public as they tread on their journey towards transformation, but the communities they are serving have so far validated their hard work and commitment in attaining the vision of PNP Patrol Plan 2030, which is to become a highly capable, effective, and credible police service through a partnership with stakeholders towards the attainment of a safer place to live, work and do business in. – Jane B. Cadalig
April 26, 2024
