Manila cops told: Refrain from smoking while on duty

Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales has ordered his policemen to refrain from smoking and texting while on duty, especially in full view of the public.

The directive was an offshoot of the observation of National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Jefferson Soriano during his initial visits to Metro police districts. Soriano has observed that some policemen have the habit of smoking while pounding the beat or when interviewing complainants, thus irritating the public.

He also noted policemen incessantly texting while manning their posts, or while on board patrol cars, giving the impression that they are not concerned with the goings-on in their immediate vicinities.

“These practices are absolutely unacceptable and must be corrected immediately,” Rosales wrote in his memorandum addressed to all MPD personnel.

Rosales said that under the integrated transformation program of Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Versoza the country’s policemen shall be transformed into efficient, effective and service-oriented public servants.

The PNP’s Integrated Transformation Program is a 10-year program designed to resolve organizational issues, strengthen law enforcement capabilities, and promote the career development and benefits of police personnel. It also presents a comprehensive and holistic approach to reform the PNP with its honest-to-goodness assessment of its present institutional framework, policies, systems, structures and procedures.

Rosales tasked all police station chiefs and unit commanders to initiate measures to correct the “bad” habit and impose approapriate sanctions against violators.