Cabanatuan top cop deploys 90% of men in streets to combat crimes

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – The newly installed station commander of the local police here has deployed 90% of his men in this city’s streets to increase police visibility and to serve as a deterrent against crimes.

          Police Superintendent Joselito Villarosa said a total of 130 lawmen are now patrolling various areas of the city, including far-flung areas to enable communities to have ready access to police assistance.

          Villarosa, who assumed his post only this month, said that the deployment of lawmen in the streets is part of the anti-crime action plan codenamed JAY VERGARA which he laid out for the city’s law enforcers.

          Villarosa explained that the scheme is an acronym named after Mayor Julius Cesar “Jay” Vergara. J stands for Junior police accreditation and utilization, A for activation of police community precincts (PCPs), Y for youth training on water safety and rescue (WASAR) and first aid, V for visibility of police officer, E for employment of special operations teams, R for reorganization of barangay tanods, G for green police utilization, A for adoption of Friends of COPS concept, R for retraining of traffic aides and  A for advancement of police personnel.

          Villarosa said under J of the program, around 100 junior policemen and interns will be accredited as force multipliers while under the first A, 20-footer movable PCPs will move around remote areas to further increase police visibility.

He said that at present, lawmen in the city are mostly concentrated in the urban barangays.

Under Y of the program, a group of seven youths will be trained in WASAR and first aid to lessen their dependence on policemen during calamities.

He said two teams of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) will be created and scour both urban and rural areas to counter the notorious riding-in-tandem crime groups under the E component.

Under the first R, six barangay tanods per barangay will be trained on how to use their batons and how to write in their barangay blotters while under G, policemen will plan 20 trees per barangay per two weeks in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

He said this is part of the core values of the Philippines wherein they are trained to be “Maka-Diyos (God-centered)” and “Maka-kalikasan” (Environmentally oriented).

Under the second A, Villarosa said the local police will tap the assistance of the Kabalikat civic group and other organizations in helping advance police-initiated activities in the city.

Under the second R, the 34 traffic aides will be retrained and its ranks will be beefed up by an additional 30 traffic enforcers while under the third A, seminars on intelligence gathering and build-up, VIP security, investigation and peace and order will be conducted periodically.

          Villarosa said people of the city will feel the impact of the JAY VERGARA action plan within his first 100 days as police chief. He said the city government has been very supportive of the scheme. – Manny Galvez