Boston brawn

I've been following the news of the Boston Marathon bombings and just today, woke up to news that the suspects had been caught.  The exciting turn of events has occurred at warp speed, and of course, like the dissatisfied denizen of this fine country that I am, I couldn't help but compare law enforcement in Boston and what passes for it in the Philippines.

It's not just the spectacular physiques of the Boston cops compared to the paunches of our finest that I'm referring to.  Really, the speed and efficiency of crime fighting that Boston and its federal counterparts displayed for us is just swoon worthy.

Right after the bomb blasts occurred, the news reports had it that an immediate clamp down on mobile phone networks was ordered.  Nobody could ring up their friends, only text messages could be sent.  The reason, authorities said, was to avoid more bombs from being set off from remote cellphones.   Smart, and demonstrated foresight.  They had that plan in place.  Us?  Do we already have this automatic plan in place as an SOP?  Sad to say, I am pessimistic about the response capabilities of our authorities.

In a couple of days, the FBI released photos of the suspects to the public.  I mean, that news hadn't even made it to printing in the broadsheets here in Asia when the suspects were already being chased in Watertown, Massachusetts.  And how were these photos culled?  From hundreds of thousands of photos and videos, including police surveillance cameras and submissions by volunteers.

The US authorities had the tech facilities to open up and dedicate a special website, where the public could upload their videos and photos, and which the police could then mine for information. Here?  Hmm.

What to do with the deluge?  That meant trawling through gigabytes upon gigabytes of raw data, sophisticated computers with mega crunching ability, and the ability to generate a mosaic of the scene.  Who was where, when, and what they were carrying, looking at, and interacting with.  And despite the odds, dedicated agents who probably hadn't slept spotted the suspects walking on the streets, carrying the backpacks of death.  The likelihood of that here, where crime upon crime lie unsolved on the desks of the PNP?

As soon as the tips started pouring in and the suspects began fleeing from MIT to Watertown, the alacrity with which the police responded was amazing.  Roads were closed.  Schools were closed.  Mass transit was shut down, and busses and taxis were not allowed to roam around the streets.  A no-fly zone was declared.  Perimeters were set up.  Sniffer dogs and big trucks and helicopters were brought to the scene.  Here? How many choppers do we have on stand-by ready to fly?

The police intensified their efforts by knocking on doors and talking to residents, telling them not to step out.  Now, how fast do you think our police officers can be deployed to large residential areas here in order to  prevent injury?

Then, how did the Feds finally find the younger brother, who had cleverly hid himself in a boat that had been lying in open sight on a garden yard? With infrared technology, of course, where the suspect's body heat had been used to give himself away.  Does the Manila NBI even have infrared search devices? Hmmm.

This seems a good moment to urge our government to get out there and invest, whether in recruiting bright young talents with sleuthing capabilities, or in technology that can make crime-fighting or terrorist-catching loads easier.

The Philippines has just won investment grade ranking from Fitch, our monetary authorities have an unprecedented stash of US dollars that's been hoarded in their efforts to keep the peso from overheating (to the extent they're incurring losses in forex trade) and our economy is progressing nicely, with a GDP beyond most of Europe's.  With all that cash, why not buy us some shiny new toys?

I mean, if we can't have outstanding specimens of muscle and flesh in cop uniforms patrolling our streets, maybe we can just give them the right equipment.  We don't really need eye candy.  (Except maybe some shallow columnists.)  We just need the right people, with the right gear.