Watching cops
Watching cops
Updated 04:47am (Mla time) Jan 19, 2005
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A12 of the January 19, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
IN THE WAKE of PO1 Jonathan Moreño's serial shooting of five policemen and a young girl, the Philippine National Police has responded with the usual noise: investigations and talks about reforms galore. But the reforms being contemplated--mandatory drug testing and neuro-psychological exams--are actually standards that are supposed to be there all along. And the investigation to be conducted by no less than six police generals seems top-heavy. It is a glittering, but ad-hoc, solution at best.
When Moreño went berserk on the final day of the Ati-Atihan festival in Aklan, he literally gunned for his fellow policemen. (The young girl, it seems, was collateral damage.) The selectiveness of Moreño indicates a grudge against his superiors (Aklan provincial police chief Supt. Odelardo Magayanes, and Kalibo police chief Chief Insp. Manuel Ilejay Jr.) and his peers (three other cops shot dead). Speculations have even begun as to why, if the PNP statements are to be believed, Moreño reacted to stress by running amok. While it is too early to give free rein to such speculations, the grisly effects of his actions surely had a cause.
Determining the cause is the problem. What faces the PNP is less a matter of attending to one shocking case, but rather, instituting an effective means of selecting, monitoring and investigating policemen as they apply for and are accepted into the service, and, on occasion, do wrong in the conduct of their duties.
It may be, for example, that Moreño passed all the necessary tests and qualifications required for acceptance into the police force. But what had the PNP done by way of evaluating his continued suitability for the force? Considering, for example, reports that Moreño became a witness in a case against a drug lord, what institutional controls were there to ensure that he would be able to cope with the pressure?
The nature of the PNP's responses so far only shows how weak it is as an institution. There seem to be no mechanisms in place to investigate the case according to existing procedures and policies, instead of the personal interest of the head of the PNP.
PNP Director General Edgardo Aglipay is a man obsessed with projecting a good image of the police (as well as his own) to the public, and he can be counted upon to do something--anything--to get good press, following this latest black eye. But nothing can hide the glaring lack of an institutional mechanism for preventing and investigating such disasters.
Since it was officially "civilianized" during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos, the PNP has been slowly, but inexorably, undergoing a transformation. The martial law era relicts of the defunct--and disgraced--Philippine Constabulary are passing from the scene. The generation of old, tired, cynical pot-bellied cops of the martial law years have been retiring and there is a lot of new blood in the police.
The quality of the new recruits, however, is pretty much an unknown quantity to the public. It sees many young cops on the beat, but how good are those cops? The answer is, the cops are only as good as the selection process that vetted them, and the policies that ensure that they are properly monitored while they are in the service. Drug and neuro-psychological tests should be continuing procedures in the force. And there should also be a methodical, professional means of identifying potential problem cops and for looking into the causes and results of their misconduct.
Investigating the causes of Moreño's actions will be a painful and potentially highly embarrassing process for the PNP. But such a process is necessary if the truth is to be obtained and it is essential if the PNP is to stop simply reacting to things, and, instead, become proactive in preventing crimes and misdemeanors.
It shouldn't require a top-heavy investigating board to get to the bottom of the grisly serial shooting. It should be fully within the capacity of the PNP to identify policemen who might be under almost unbearable pressure before they actually lose control. Or, in cases that are much too hard to predict and prevent, to get to the bottom of things so that measures that will improve the institution and its members can be put in place.
Updated 04:47am (Mla time) Jan 19, 2005
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A12 of the January 19, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
IN THE WAKE of PO1 Jonathan Moreño's serial shooting of five policemen and a young girl, the Philippine National Police has responded with the usual noise: investigations and talks about reforms galore. But the reforms being contemplated--mandatory drug testing and neuro-psychological exams--are actually standards that are supposed to be there all along. And the investigation to be conducted by no less than six police generals seems top-heavy. It is a glittering, but ad-hoc, solution at best.
When Moreño went berserk on the final day of the Ati-Atihan festival in Aklan, he literally gunned for his fellow policemen. (The young girl, it seems, was collateral damage.) The selectiveness of Moreño indicates a grudge against his superiors (Aklan provincial police chief Supt. Odelardo Magayanes, and Kalibo police chief Chief Insp. Manuel Ilejay Jr.) and his peers (three other cops shot dead). Speculations have even begun as to why, if the PNP statements are to be believed, Moreño reacted to stress by running amok. While it is too early to give free rein to such speculations, the grisly effects of his actions surely had a cause.
Determining the cause is the problem. What faces the PNP is less a matter of attending to one shocking case, but rather, instituting an effective means of selecting, monitoring and investigating policemen as they apply for and are accepted into the service, and, on occasion, do wrong in the conduct of their duties.
It may be, for example, that Moreño passed all the necessary tests and qualifications required for acceptance into the police force. But what had the PNP done by way of evaluating his continued suitability for the force? Considering, for example, reports that Moreño became a witness in a case against a drug lord, what institutional controls were there to ensure that he would be able to cope with the pressure?
The nature of the PNP's responses so far only shows how weak it is as an institution. There seem to be no mechanisms in place to investigate the case according to existing procedures and policies, instead of the personal interest of the head of the PNP.
PNP Director General Edgardo Aglipay is a man obsessed with projecting a good image of the police (as well as his own) to the public, and he can be counted upon to do something--anything--to get good press, following this latest black eye. But nothing can hide the glaring lack of an institutional mechanism for preventing and investigating such disasters.
Since it was officially "civilianized" during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos, the PNP has been slowly, but inexorably, undergoing a transformation. The martial law era relicts of the defunct--and disgraced--Philippine Constabulary are passing from the scene. The generation of old, tired, cynical pot-bellied cops of the martial law years have been retiring and there is a lot of new blood in the police.
The quality of the new recruits, however, is pretty much an unknown quantity to the public. It sees many young cops on the beat, but how good are those cops? The answer is, the cops are only as good as the selection process that vetted them, and the policies that ensure that they are properly monitored while they are in the service. Drug and neuro-psychological tests should be continuing procedures in the force. And there should also be a methodical, professional means of identifying potential problem cops and for looking into the causes and results of their misconduct.
Investigating the causes of Moreño's actions will be a painful and potentially highly embarrassing process for the PNP. But such a process is necessary if the truth is to be obtained and it is essential if the PNP is to stop simply reacting to things, and, instead, become proactive in preventing crimes and misdemeanors.
It shouldn't require a top-heavy investigating board to get to the bottom of the grisly serial shooting. It should be fully within the capacity of the PNP to identify policemen who might be under almost unbearable pressure before they actually lose control. Or, in cases that are much too hard to predict and prevent, to get to the bottom of things so that measures that will improve the institution and its members can be put in place.
posted by Dante at 4:47 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home