Making a difference

Before his term as Philippine National Police chief was extended beyond three weeks, Edgar Aglipay had vowed to make a difference in three days.

He did – by reshuffling the PNP. That was the easy part; a shakeup is expected each time there’s a new man at the helm of the national police.

The harder part was delivering on his vow to make people, especially in Metro Manila, feel safer "in the streets, the workplaces and at home."

Aglipay had planned to do this by increasing police vi-sibility at least in the National Capital Region. He changed the police commander for Metro Manila and ordered the deployment of more mobile and foot patrols.

Days later Aglipay was fuming. Making the rounds of Metro Manila from Friday night till Saturday morning, he saw no foot patrols. He did see prowl cars, but he noticed that the vehicles were used by cops merely as rest areas. Every district commander in Metro Manila got a dressing down.

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So do we feel safer in the streets, in our offices and homes?

Let’s be fair: that was one ambitious goal. It’s like former interior secretary Joey Lina declaring war on jueteng lords. Aglipay, as I’ve written, is a respected cop, but there’s only so much he can do with an organization set in its ways, used to its own rot.

Aglipay’s boss, Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes, learned this early on. Perhaps together the two can make a difference. So far they’ve arrested the suspected killer of a journalist. That’s progress in a nation where there are far too many unsolved murders of members of the press.

Seeing how even an order to saturate Metro Manila with cops can’t be carried out, Aglipay must now be realizing that his problems are even more enormous than he could ima-gine.

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Is the order feasible in the first place?

It is – but Aglipay may have to implement drastic changes in the deployment of his forces. With 115,000 PNP members, there are too few cops for this nation of over 80 million. And with the enormous fiscal deficit, there’s no way Aglipay can hire new cops.

What he can do is recall thousands of cops currently assigned to VIPs as bodyguards. Not all public officials deserve security escorts. Among those who deserve it, not all require more than one bodyguard.

There are cops assigned not only to VIPs but also to the VIPs’ spouses, children, mistresses, and children with the mistresses. There are VIPs in government and VIPs in the private sector. It’s not unusual for a prominent businessman to have up to 15 police security escorts.

One day when government coffers are no longer empty – will this happen in my lifetime? – we may want to consider setting up a special office to provide security to deserving VIPs. Something similar to the US Secret Service, whose members have special training in this kind of security work. Then we can free our cops to do their job, which is to protect the general public, maintain peace and order, and solve and prevent crimes.

Meanwhile, someone will have to rationalize the deployment of thousands of police officers for bodyguard duty. It’s the job of the PNP to protect everyone, but such is life in these islands: the right to be secure is fully enjoyed only by a select few.

Even reducing the number of police bodyguards assigned to certain VIPS, of course, could create a lot of powerful enemies for Aglipay and his boss Angie Reyes, so I don’t expect much to come out of this proposal. When you have only six months on the job, you need every influential friend you can get.

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So let’s find something doable. Since the Metro Manila Development Authority wants full control over traffic ma-nagement, Aglipay can pull out some cops from that job. I say some because MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando must first give his traffic personnel proper training in traffic management. There are too many MMDA traffic aides who don’t know what they’re doing.

While he’s at it, Aglipay can also reduce the number of regular PNP members assigned to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. The bureau has its own personnel supported by local governments.

Aglipay can also reduce the number of cops assigned to clerical work so they can be sent out on patrols. There are a lot of these cops wasting their crime-busting training on work that can easily be handled by civilians. Some community precincts may have to be shut down so cops who do nothing but staff work can actually patrol the community.

There should be regular physical inspection of personnel, particularly those whose assignment is "attached to commander." These are usually the so-called 15-30 folks — cops who report for duty only to collect their pay every 15th and end of the month. They can get away with it only with the blessings of the commander.

Once police personnel have been redeployed for patrol duty, inspectors should be fielded to make sure the cops are truly on their toes. To help keep the cops on alert, they should be required to file daily reports about their beat. Noting even minor details such as a busted streetlight or an unusually high wall being built around a house can go a long way in crime prevention.

For quick response to emergencies, patrol cops should be equipped with two-way radios or, in this age of cheap cell phones, at least have a hotline to the nearest police station.

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Cops used to the easy life will resent these measures. There will be resistance to changes even from ranking officers particularly because Aglipay has been given only six months as PNP chief. When the man at the helm is a lame duck, officers are willing to risk his ire and refuse to give him their full cooperation.

This is something that President Arroyo ignores when she follows her revolving door policy in the PNP. The campaign against criminality can be successful only if it is sustained. This cannot happen when officers are distracted by speculation on who will be their next chief.

Aglipay may eventually get all the cops he needs out in the streets of Metro Manila. Whether they will remain there beyond his six months is another story.