PRO-6 uses cops-on-bike vs crime

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — The Police Regional Office-6 has deployed 40 policemen on bicycles to patrol busy streets in this city and in tourist areas in the region, as part of its campaign on crime deterrence.

Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz, PRO-6 director, said 20 policemen were deployed in this city and 20 others were sent to Boracay Island in Aklan province.

The move of the PRO-6 came after the 40 policemen graduated recently this week from a two-week Bike Patrol Training at Camp Delgado, headquarters of PRO-6, in this city. “We will train more to deploy in other areas of Western Visayas,” Cruz said. .

Chief Supt. Vicente Loot, director of the PNP Training Service, admitted that they could only vouch on the theoretical effectiveness of cops-on-bikes in the Philippines. “How this can really decrease crime occurrence, that we have to know,” he said, citing that the 40 policemen trained in Iloilo consisted of the first batch of the PNP's cops-on-bike program.

The PNP's bike patrol system was patterned after that of the United States. The idea of replicating the system in the country was conceptualized after Fil-Am policemen in the United States visited the country and introduced the bike patrolling scheme. “In the United States, it has been effective as a tool to reduce crimes,” Loot said.

But more than running after criminals, the PNP believed that policemen riding on bicycles are more visible than those doing foot patrols. “Of course, they are no match to criminals riding on four wheels or motorcycles but their presence on the streets are seen to be effective in crime deterrence,” Loot added. (FREEMAN)