More Manila cops on the beat

The Manila Police District (MPD) will launch today its "10-90 deployment" scheme that aims to reduce the number of personnel at headquarters and beef up the city’s 11 police stations.

"The scheme which is on an experimental basis, is meant to deploy 90 percent of the total Manila police force or some 2,700 policemen in Manila’s 11 police stations, while the 10 percent or about 300 men shall form the plantilla of personnel at the headquarters," MPD director Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarsoza said.

The scheme is part of the district’s reorganization plan to avoid work duplication and maximize police visibility and presence, he said.

Abarsoza said the "10-90" scheme had been in the "freezer" since 1997 and the MPD is the first to implement it. The deployment was done to comply with a directive from Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Calderon, he added.

He said 90 percent of MPD personnel shall be involved in operations, while the 10 percent remaining at headquarters shall perform mostly administrative work.

At the headquarters, Abarsoza said support units such as the homicide, theft and robbery, general assignment and anti-carnapping sections will now be manned by about 20 police investigators per section. They will be assisted during follow-up investigations by personnel from the detective beat patrol unit and the district police intelligence unit.

The headquarters support units used to have as many as 50 investigators for each section.

The mobile patrol unit shall not be affected by the "downloading" of personnel since it acts as an augmentation force, Abarsoza said.

He warned the 11 police station chiefs that they will be "dealt with accordingly if crime statistics in their jurisdiction continue to increase" despite the new deployment scheme. – Nestor Etolle