Crame checks on management of trained police investigators

THERE are thousands of trained police investigators in the country, and yet there are police stations which sorely lack a team of good investigators.

The Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) based in Camp Crame intends to correct this through the “Imbestiga Tour 2017”, designed to help police stations manage and reorganize their investigation units.

DIDM head Police Director Augusto Marquez Jr. lamented that some trained police investigators are assigned by their superiors as bodyguards or even drivers; while there are police stations in the country with no trained police investigators to handle investigative positions.

“So atong policy karon atong gi-remind sila (Police Regional Offices) nga atong trained investigators ibutang sa investigation positions. Kadtong trained sa intelligence angay ibutang sa intelligence unit,” Marquez said.

(So it is now our policy to remind them that our trained investigators should be assigned in investigation units. While those trained in intelligence gathering should be assigned in intelligence units.)

Marquez said that unlike in 2010 when the Philippine National Police (PNP) only had 1,800 trained investigators nationwide, currently, there are about 28,000 policemen trained to investigate.

Each police station, Marquez said, should have their own trained investigators.

”There is no reason nga nagkulang atong imbestigador. Nagsobra atong imbestigador nga na-train. Ang problema ang kaning mga na-train nga investigators wala gi-assign sa investigation positions,” Marquez said.

(We have so many investigators who are trained. The problem is these trained investigators are not being assigned in investigative positions.)

An investigators’ training is currently being conducted under the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas starting yesterday until Friday, June 16.

Marquez said the training was aimed to enhance the skills of the police in investigating crime incidents.

“Dunay mga kaso dili magprosper ang investigation kay kining atong investigator daghan ilahang workloads,” Marquez said.

(There are cases where the investigation does not prosper because our investigators have so much workload.)

He cited that a police investigator, for example, is given one case to probe and then given another case to investigate the next day.

Marquez noted that some investigators will tend to shift their attention to the next case and leave the other hanging.

“So we tell them unsaon pag-investigate properly and then inform mga aggrieved parties or mga complainants unsay progress sa kaso. Dili kay

nagpaabot rato ang mga complainant unsa ang kaso pero ang gihatag sa police station wala nay feedback,” Marquez said.

(So we tell them how to properly investigate a case and then inform the aggrieved parties or the complainants about the progress of the case. It is not

right to just keep the complainant waiting because police failed to give feedback.)

“This is not supposed to be,” he added.