PRO-9 nears standard cop to population ratio

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The Police Regional Office 9 (PRO-9) in the Zamboanga Peninsula is close to achieving the standard ratio in the deployment of police personnel to protect a community, officials said yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Ramon Ochotorena, PRO-9 deputy for administration, said the current local police officer to population ratio is at 1:700, while the national standard is at 1:500.

“We wanted to trim it down to cover the 1:500 ratio,” Ochotorena told journalists at the weekly Issues in the News program of the Zamboanga Press Club.

He said recruitment for new police officers is ongoing to strengthen the police unit in the Zamboanga Peninsula and to comply with the police national standard deployment.

Ochotorena said they are relying on the various force multipliers such as the private security and the village watchmen to augment the deficiency in security deployment.