THE Philippine National Police in Central Visayas (PRO-7) has another goal before President Duterte’s term ends in 2022: to meet the target ratio between the number of police and the density of constituents in a community.
Supt. Reyman Tolentin, PRO-7 spokesperson, said they are continuing with the recruitment of more police personnel to be added in the police force.
At present, Tolentin said each policeman in Cebu is good for about 1,000 constituents which is way higher than the target density of one cop for every 500 constituents.
Tolentin said they are looking forward to add 700 new cops in their head count.
“It won’t be that long man siguro. Perhaps by 2022, that will be achieved. Naa man pud nay quota on the regions on pila kabuok ang i-hire,” Tolentin said.
(I think it won’t take that long. Perhaps by 2022, that will be achieved already. The regional offices also have their quota on how many should be hired.)
Despite the need for more police officers, Tolentin assured that they will not in any way be lenient in checking the qualifications of their recruits.
As the PNP celebrates crime prevention month in September, Tolentin said they continue to bank on the information relayed to them by the community in order to deter crimes.
“Magpakabana gyod (Each person needs to be involved.). That is a holistic approach in solving crimes. Because if each person in the community will tell us if there are suspicious activities in their place, then we will be able to respond,” he said.