MPD’s rapid deployment tactic pays off at LRT

The Manila Police District’s "rapid deployment" scheme against street crimes produced positive results yesterday with the apprehension of a notorious pickpocket at the crowded Light Rail Transit (LRT) terminal in Pedro Gil, Ermita.

Senior Inspector Edgardo Carpio, team leader of "sekretas" from the Theft and Robbery Section, told The STAR he spotted Edison Loyola, 34, of San Andres, Manila, acting suspiciously while mingling with the crowd of commuters.

Carpio said he had arrested Loyola in 1998 when he was still a patrolman. When Loyola saw the officer he quickly took off, prompting Carpio to give chase.

When cornered, Loyola yielded a cellular phone. Carpio seized the phone and called on the listed names on its directory, until he found the real owner.

At police headquarters, Arnaldo Villarama, 24, of Bulacan, said his phone was stolen from his pocket while he was waiting for a train at the crowded Pedro Gil terminal.

The suspect admitted having picked his pocket and running away with the cellular phone.

Newly designated MPD officer-in-charge Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa earlier deployed six teams of detective patrols to the city’s crime-prone areas to stem the tide of rising incidents of street crimes.

In a turnover of command ceremony last Tuesday, Abarzosa vowed to implement measures to eradicate street crimes, which is one of the main thrusts of the programs of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Calderon.

As his first order, Abarzosa tasked Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula to form teams of detectives who will patrol identified crime-prone areas in the city.

A team from the General Assignment Section (GAS) has been deployed from Quirino Avenue to a stretch of Taft Avenue; a team from the Theft and Robbery Section to A. Mabini, M.H. del Pilar , Pedro Gil and Adriatico streets; a team from Task Force Galugad along Plaza Lawton to Taft Avenue; a team from the Anti-Carnapping Section to the University Belt; a team from the Homicide Section along Recto Avenue; and a team from the Warrant Section to the Intramuros area.

The more than 50 plainclothes policemen will complement the patrol beat of the 11 police stations in Manila, Sapitula said.

According to Abarzosa, the detectives and their respective team leaders shall be accountable and will be held responsible for crimes committed in their assigned areas.

"I will try to replicate if not surpass the achievement of Gen. Bulaong," said Abarzosa, who is also a Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) alumnus. Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong formally bowed out of the police service upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56 last Aug. 1. He was MPD chief for four years.

Abarzosa said he will continue to implement his predecessor’s PIT (patrol, investigation and traffic control and maintenance) campaign.