SAF teams arrive to assist SWAT, local police
EXPERTISE. Special Action Forces (SAF) personnel from Negros Occidental arrive in Cebu City to train Cebu police (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON).
THREE teams from the Special Action Force (SAF) arrived in Cebu City over the weekend to train police units and assist them in going after “high-value” targets here.
Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), tapped the services of the SAF teams, composed of 24 operatives from Negros Occidental, to help the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) in Cebu improve their skills.
A team from the Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG) and representatives from the different police units in the region shall also undergo the special SAF trainings.
“I’ve requested them to train our men. Our SWAT team, for one, needs more training,” said Taliño, a former SAF chief.
Aside from training local police units, Taliño said the SAF operatives will also join their special operations.
“They are here to provide muscle and to train our staff,” he said.
Meanwhile, PRO-7 will conduct a quarterly firearms proficiency test to refresh policemen in the region with their shooting skills.
“They can rehearse and practice. But if they fail again, I think it will be better if I recall their firearms and replace it with bolos or sticks,” Taliño quipped.
“We need to develop our skills in shooting especially as we fight the menace of illegal drugs. If our policemen have poor shooting skills, then I’m afraid they will be the one who will get shot by drug pushers,” he added.
Early this month, rankings released by the National Anti-Illegal Drugs Monitoring Council in Camp Crame showed that PRO-7 topped all police offices nationwide in the campaign against illegal drugs.
The rankings were based on the number of operations, arrests, surrenderers and drug personalities killed in police encounters from July 1 to Aug. 30, 2016.
Taliño said that he is not contended with what the regional police office had achieved in the campaign against illegal drugs, saying the local police has to double or triple their efforts if possible.
“We should not rest on our laurels. I don’t want our policemen to relax,” he said.
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