EDITORIAL - How effective is police visibility?

In an intensified drive against criminality, police visibility certainly plays a big role in maintaining peace and order. The mere presence of a policeman in a busy area could always deter a criminal from pulling off his trade.

That is why patrolling, even in remotest areas, has become an essentially part of police routine to prevent lawlessness. It cannot be denied that criminality thrives in the absence of security. However, crimes of different types will never succeed if safety measures are put in place.

But how safe a certain place is greatly depends on how the police force works. Cebu City police are equipped with modern stuffs that are vital to their daily operations.

This only means maintaining peace and order has become easier with the help of patrol cars, motorcycles, street cameras, among others. There is no doubt that these pieces of equipment are giving the authorities the advantage against criminals.

With all these resources, however, it would still boil down to visibility. The need for police presence in every street around the city is what counts in the heightened battle against criminality. A roving police team cannot only deter crime. It can also create a feeling of safety and security among the people.

Thursday last week, the city police had shown us how effective is police visibility in preventing a crime. A group of bigtime robbers was about to strike a jewelry store inside a mall when it retreated upon seeing a roving police patrol car.

The robbers, reportedly members of the dreaded Ozamiz City syndicate, were just minutes away from hitting their target when they spotted the patrol car behind the van they were riding. Thinking that the police were tailing them, they immediately withdrew and left behind assorted high-powered firearms inside the van, which they abandoned at the mall's parking area.

Although they already had intelligence info about robbery gangs from other areas out to hit establishments in Cebu, the city police were clueless about the planned heist that day. But thanks to the roving policemen, the great mall robbery was averted.