Fear and trust

WHO’S afraid of the police? Not the criminals, it seems.

At the rate crime is being committed in the province — the unabated heinous drive-by shootings, rampant illegal drug-dealings, and prevalent thefts — it is easy to conclude that fear of the police is not a factor among criminals. Looking outside Pangasinan to the rest of the country, especially in the capital Metro Manila, there have also been far too many reports lately of criminal activities from carjacking to shocking murders, to home and street robberies.

This is a frightening situation for the public.

And the police should be very, very worried not only for their failure to go after the bad guys but in losing the trust of the good ordinary people who want to simply feel safe and secure in their homes, out in their communities, and the bigger public places. To begin with, the public’s confidence in our police force has never been sky-high, and the widely-exposed bungled hostage-taking crisis last year, which left foreign tourists dead, further pulled down the trust level in the competence of our police officers.

Government officials, at the national and local levels, should also be very, very worried because peace and order problems not just make an edgy populace but also drive away investors.

The police should double their efforts now in proving that they can put a stop to the crimes and deliver the perpetrators before the bar of justice.

We do recognize that our police force is not exactly sleeping on the job. It must be noted that since the week after last Christmas, three officers in Pangasinan have died in the line of duty. They are PO2 John Arvin Jacob from the Urdaneta City station, SPO2 Roderick Ballesca of the Provincial Public Safety Company in Tayug, and just last week, SPO3 Joel Resuello in San Carlos City. We mourn their death, all caused by a bullet, in as much as we grieve for the victims of the pervasive crimes. All these deaths are a stark reminder of the extent of lawlessness that we are experiencing.

We need the police. They are an indispensible institution in a progressive society. But they need to live up to their role and responsibilities, which is not just a question of felons and petty crooks being afraid of them but of the public being able to put their trust in them who have sworn to serve and protect the people. With that trust, the police can then count on the community to help them in their fight against criminality.

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