Makati cops banned from malls during Christmas season

MANILA, Philippines - Makati City police officers are forbidden from entering the city mall’s, ostensibly for the purpose of conducting “patrols,” during the Christmas season, city police chief Senior Superintendent Manuel Lukban said yesterday.

“Based on our experience, policemen who are supposed to go on patrols inside the malls end up just malling and could not be found immediately when they are really needed,” Lukban told The STAR.

Lukban said that instead of going on patrols inside malls, uniformed police officers will instead be positioned at the exits and entrances of malls where mall security personnel could easily find them if needed.

Lukban added that police officers on patrol at the city’s commercial and business areas will also no longer wear Santa Claus costumes.

According to Lukban, for this Christmas season, teams composed of two police officers and a member of the Makati Public Safety Department have been deployed around the city’s commercial district and at the Metro Rail Transit stations from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The Makati City police has also implemented a comprehensive security plan for the city as the Christmas season comes into full swing.

Under the scheme, barangay watchmen and security guards will assist police officers in maintaining order and security in the different barangays.

Lukban said the Makati police station only has a total of 520 police officers to serve the city’s 600,000 permanent residents and a daytime population of four million. As such, Lukban said there is only one police officer to serve 8,000 people in Makati.