Police clusters: killing 2 birds with 1 stone

Cops can operate in wider jurisdiction; it addresses lack of manpower

CCPO Director Buenafe says he is ready to implement Rama’s instruction Mayor says all that is needed is a command center and deputies to dispatch police personnel in the barangays Buenafe to appoint 2 deputies to supervise

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama wants the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) to cluster police stations in the city.

That way, police can operate outside their area of responsibility and address the lack of manpower.

Rama said there should be at least 2,000 police personnel to serve the one million people in the city on weekdays, but the CCPO only has a little over 900.

By clustering, police can become integrated and they can operate anywhere within their clustered barangays, he said. This may mean bigger responsibilities for them, he said, but it might solve the lack of operatives.

A highly-urbanized city like Cebu, with a population of almost 800,000, should have at least 1,500 policemen.

But CCPO Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe said they only have 944 personnel, compared to 1,200 a decade ago.

For implementation

The mayor has instructed Buenafe to start clustering police precincts today, if possible.

“Mao nay akong gisulti ni Buenafe (That’s what I told him), it’s now incumbent nga mag- cluster na ta and I’m already directing him about it,” Rama said.

Buenafe said he is ready to implement the mayor’s instruction.

He said they brought up the matter during the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council and he will implement it today.

The CCPO director said he will group neighboring police precincts like stations 1, 2, 3, 4 to compose one cluster.

“This means they can operate in barangays outside their regular area of responsibility but within their cluster,” he said.

Rama said a command center and deputies are all that is needed to dispatch police personnel in the barangays. They can go back to their police stations at the end of the day, he said.

Buenafe said he will appoint two deputies to super-

vise the clustered precincts.

ABC support

He said he will also mobilize some senior officers to act as cluster supervisors starting today.

He said they already have centralized operating units for the implementation of the plan.

Association of Barangay Councils president Michael Ralota welcomed the CCPO’S move.

Ralota, in a separate interview, said clustering of the police precincts can augment the lack of police personnel in other police stations.

“It’s a good idea. It’s like the unified force. I don’t know if the force multipliers like the tanods will go with the clustering of the police stations,” he said.

He said he will ask Buenafe to brief him on the matter so he can also relay it to the barangays.