PNP: NCR station chiefs tampered with crime stats

MANILA, Philippines - A significant number of Metro Manila’s 38 police station commanders were caught tampering with crime statistics, according to a report by the Philippine National Police’s Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (PNP-DIDM).

“A big number of the 38 station commanders were found submitting a reduced number of crime incidents or a discrepancy to the tune of more than 30 percent than what the DIDM recorded,” DIDM head Director Don Montenegro said in the report.

The DIDM has forwarded the report to National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Chief Superintendent Marcelo Garbo Jr., who is expected to decide on the fates of the erring station commanders anytime next week.

Garbo has written the mayors of the station commanders concerned, informing them that the police officers the local officials have chosen “are not performing their jobs religiously.”

True picture

PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima ordered the validation of crime statistics all over the country to get a true picture of the type of crimes being committed so the police force can address them properly.

Montenegro ordered Metro Manila’s 38 station commanders to submit crime incident reports covering January to June, with a warning that those found tampering with their reports would be relived from their posts.

The DIDM checked the records in the police blotters in police stations and in the barangays and compared their findings with the periodic reports submitted by station commanders.

Blame game

Confronted with the DIDM’s findings, the station commanders with tampered reports blamed their statisticians and barangay officials for the “wrong” incident reports.

Chief Superintendent Christopher Laxa, NCRPO’s deputy director for operations, said that since the station commanders have signed their reports “they would be held liable for their miscues.”

He said the station commanders have not tampered with the reports – the statisticians prepared them without their guidance and some barangays submitted erroneous records of crimes.

Some station commanders also failed to include in their reports traffic incidents and cases handled by the women’s and children’s protection desks, hence the big discrepancy, Laxa said.

“We are giving our station commanders the benefit of the doubt. They are now undergoing  schooling here at the NCRPO headquarters, awaiting the final decision of Gen. Garbo,” he said.