Editorial
GOVERNOR Amado Espino Jr. wants the police to shape up, and not so much in a literal sense. What the governor wants is an improvement in the police’s behavior and their attitude about themselves. Give yourselves some self-respect, he is telling policemen, and bring on dignity to the force.
His directive, issued during a conference attended by the provincial police’s top men, was no mere vague discourse delivered as an obligatory political speech. The instructions are clear cut: Stop going to cockpits arenas; refrain from functioning as escorts during weddings, funerals and whatever other motorcades there are; and quit serving as bodyguards to the family members of politicians.
Coming from a former policeman himself, one who has in fact once served as chief of the provincial force, the order becomes all the more consequential because it implies a familiarity with those to whom the command is given and intimate knowledge of their realities.
In becoming a politician and succeeding in winning the governor’s seat, Espino has not forgotten his police roots. He is, in fact, skillfully using his new influence and authority to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our cops as law enforcers, guardians of the public and defenders of peace – not protectors of politicians and the affluent.
The directive is a good start. But, just like any law, it will only be valuable if it is strictly enforced. And while at it, the instructions should extend to the stopping of kotong practices, especially those preying on cargo trucks transporting vegetable and other food items because this will mean, among other things, lower costs in food commodities.
The provincial board should also get into the act by appropriating sums for the purchase of more bicycles, or motorcycles with open sidecars, to enable police to increase visibility not only in the poblacion areas of the Pangasinan’s 44 towns and four cities but in far-flung barrios. An increased police visibility will be a more effective crime deterrent than the shotguns in the hands of barangay chairmen.
A well-mannered, well-equipped, and well-trained police force will mean safer communities and it will also mean a renewed respect for our men in uniform.
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