NCRPO to netizens: Help stop crimes

MANILA, Philippines - The National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) asked netizens yesterday to take a more active role in stopping crimes.

“I’m enjoining the public to actively participate in our effort to reduce the crime rate in Metro Manila by reporting suspicious-looking individuals in their neighborhood,” NCRPO chief Director Carmelo Valmoria said in an interview.

He said the public can send their reports through private messages to the NCRPO React account on Facebook and Twitter. “Their identities will be withheld by us,” Valmoria said.

He said the NCRPO has also enlisted the help of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG), Directorate for Intelligence (DI), the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) and Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) in the war against crime in Metro Manila.

The NCRPO chief said cooperating with these police units would help hasten the solution of sensational crimes in the metropolis.

Valmoria said the HPG and FEO can help trace the owners of vehicles and firearms used in crimes, respectively; the DIDM could guide the NCRPO in its investigation; and the DI can provide intelligence on specific crime gangs.

In the past, the NCRPO would create special task groups composed of local police officers but there were delays in several cases because the task group would have to coordinate with the HPG and the FEO for ownership of the recovered evidence, he said.