WALK THE BEAT. Police officers of the Police Regional Office in Western Visayas (PRO) (in formation) in Camp Delgado. Brig. Gen. Rene Pamuspusan, PRO 6 regional director, on Monday (August 19, 2019) pushes for the enhancement of police beat patrolling to curb crimes, especially those perpetrated by motorcycle-riding criminals. (File photo)
ILOILO CITY -- The regional director of the Police Regional Office in Western Visayas (PRO 6) told police patrollers to walk and be familiarized with their beats to prevent crimes, especially those perpetrated by motorcycle-riding criminals.
In a press conference on Monday, PRO 6 Regional Director, Brig. Gen. Rene Pamuspusan said police beat patrolling is a preventive solution to the attacks by the motorcycle-riding gunmen in this city.
On August 16, Mark Muller, 38, of Jaro district, was shot dead by unidentified assailants onboard a motorcycle in Taft North village, Mandurriao district.
The motorcycle riding-in-tandem gunmen attacked and killed Robert Isubal, 43, at Zone 2, Barangay East Timawa, Molo district.
Pamuspusan said Muller, a classified high-value drug target, surrendered in “Oplan Tokhang” in 2017.
Isubal was identified as a member of the Odicta gang and was released from jail on August 14 after a plea- bargaining deal.
“We should enhance our patrolling system. Beat patrollers should perform their responsibilities,” the regional director said, adding that the intensified beat patrolling can “minimize the occurrences of criminal acts.”
In 2018, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has launched the "clean rider" campaign to curb crimes perpetrated by motorcycle-riding criminals.
The PNP placed stickers on motorcycles to identify them as "clean riders".
However, Pamuspusan said the PRO-6 was unable to catch the perpetrators because “they wear helmets” and “they could easily get out of the area and hide their motorcycles.”
The regional director also noted that he noticed some of the beat patrollers were "stationary."
“Beat patrolling is not new. The focus of the beat patrol is to walk your beat, be familiar with your beat and the people who are there in your beat for you to know who can help you,” he said.
“You will know who lives there and you know the vital installations, and that is how you can control crime from occurring,” he said.
The chief of police will be the one to identify where the beat patrollers will be deployed.
He said crime-prone areas should be "handled" like vital installations, schools, markets, and places of convergence.
The matter on enhanced beat patrolling was raised by the regional director on their recent Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) meeting.
“I have instructed them to implement the beat patrol and I can see their feedback,” he said.
Meanwhile, the regional director does not want to speculate that there are “organized groups” behind the killings.
He said he is waiting for the progress of the investigations on the cases by the police directors.
“It’s very dangerous to speculate. We need to study the background of the incidents and we cannot relate immediately one incident from the other,” he said.
Despite the killings perpetrated by motorcycle-riding gunmen, Pamuspusan assured that this city remains peaceful.
“We can say that the general public is safe. I am sure that ordinary people or the peace-loving people of Western Visayas were not victimized,” he said. (PNA)
