By Christopher Lloyd T. Caliwan
MANILA, Oct. 21 (PNA) — Newly installed Makati City police chief, Senior Supt. Ernesto Barlam, on Tuesday vowed to increase police visibility to combat criminality in the country’s financial district.
Barlam took over on Monday as city police chief from Senior Superintendent Manuel Lukban.
In an interview with Makati beat reporters, he plans to lessen the number of police officers detailed inside the central headquarters and substations by 10 percent and deploy them to patrol the streets. He said this move will increase police visibility and beat patrolling in the city.
“We will beef up, will take police officers into the streets instead of staying in the headquarters and offices,” he said.
He said additional policemen will be assigned in busy streets including malls, downtown areas, bus terminals and other gathering places to prevent crimes.
The new Makati police chief added that this number will reinforce the existing number of policemen plus the additional 50 officers from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) who are currently deployed in the city to thwart the increasing number of robbery and holdup cases.
He also ordered the station commanders to monitor their jurisdiction even during weekends.
According to the record of the Makati Police, there is a total of 649 police officers in the city, and around 150 of them have administrative functions.
He said he is also planning to meet with barangay and city officials on how to strengthen crime prevention.
Barlam is a member of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) “Tagapaglingkod” Class of 1987.
Barlam said he was also previously assigned as chief of the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO). (PNA)