DESPITE the recent criticism over checkpoints in Mandaue City, the Cebu City police will still enforce both stationary and mobile checkpoints to maintain peace and order, the city’s top police official said yesterday.
Senior Supt. Joel Doria, Cebu City police chief, said the checkpoints are also in keeping with the election period for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in which the gun ban is in effect starting today.
Doria said it is considered standard operating procedure for police not to announce where it will place the checkpoints in order not to inform criminal elements who remain in hiding.
He also called on the public to file a complaint at his office if they encounter abusive police officers at checkpoints which are usually lighted.
Doria said it is required for police officers to be in uniform at checkpoints.
Last Monday, both the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) and the regional Commission on Human Rights (CHR-7) said they will look into complaints of commuters in Mandaue City of alleged “intrusive body searches” conducted by police manning the checkpoints in Barangay Subangdaku.
Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, PRO-7 chief, said he will not hesitate to order the relief of police officers and precinct chiefs if they are found to have neglected their duties and abused their authority.
In a message during the blessing and turnover ceremony of the new building for the Cebu City Police Office, Espino reminded Cebu City police precinct chiefs to be active in the war against drugs but to observe due process in doing so.
Espino said tougher, proactive law enforcement will be an effective deterrent to crime in the region and in Cebu.
He also called on police precinct chiefs to work with local officials in serving their mandate to the people.