DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The three-minute quick response system suggested by newly installed Police regional office Commander Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III is not new in Davao City but it is not feasible in the hinterland barangays due to geographical conditions.
During his Monday visit to the DCPO and in a meeting with the station commanders from 21 police precincts of the city, the regional director ordered the implementation of the three-minute response time, especially in responding to eight focus crimes.
The eight focus crimes which Torre referred to involved cases of Murder, Physical Injury, Homicide, Carnapping of vehicles, carnapping of motorcycles, theft and rape.
Davao City Police spokesperson Captain Hazel Tuazon said the order is implementable “We are here to follow orders as we need to follow protocol.”
Torre who led the Police Communications Office before his assignment as PRO XI commander held a simulation exercise last most and personally experienced that the DCPO could deliver his expectations based on the result.
In a seeming display of how his previous unit, the Quezon City Police District performed, he called the station and asked a police personnel to find a particular person and in three minutes he got the answer.
Tuazon in an interview said the new order will mean adjustments to the work hours of the police, as it is now, she said, police on duty for 24-hours and take a break a day after, as a routine, with the new order, police has to work for eight hours only as three shifting is expected in 24-hours.
Davao City being the third most populous city in the Philippines next to Quezon City and Manila is equipped with resources to execute the order.
Davao City has been considered as the biggest city in terms of land area with 244,361 hectares, has only over 1,500 police personnel to guard the over 1.7 million population.
As it is now, only over a hundred police personnel are assigned to major and populous police precincts such as San Pedro, Sta. Ana, Buhangin, Talomo and Toril, while the rest have only over 35 to 40 police personnel, this order can be executed but not to the hinterlands like Baguio District.
Torre wants to replicate the strategy in the region because it was considered among the best practices in the Quezon City Police District when he was chief.
A retired police officer said the strategy has been implemented in Davao as the Davao City Central 911 plays a pivotal role in their endeavor for years.
However, given the far-flung areas like Paquibato District, Marilog District and Baguio and the likes where terrain is a challenge, he said “I guess they have to make adjustments.”
As it is now, all reports are received by 911 and the same concern is relayed to the police tactical Operations Center then pass it to the concerned police precinct for the precinct to relay to their units the information.
“Doon palang kakainin na ang three minutes, logically the three minutes response system should start from the moment the concerned station receives the information,” he added.
On the eight-hour shifting, tall major police precincts have at least three (3) to four (4) police mobiles and each mobile has two police personnel “It means shall we say three police mobiles- it need six (6) in a given shift, and in three shiftings it means, 18 police personnel in a day, so, the tendency is we have lesser policemen deployed on the ground.
There are matrices which the DCPO is following like deployment plan for congested areas, location, nearest police patrol,
In Quezon City, their police blocks are just near each other while in Davao blocks are distant from each other, especially in hinterlands barangays where police mobile cannot reach.
Is the 3-minute response time feasible and efficient? Only the police can tell.
But in every movement, the community’s cooperation is crucial as many police reports are only known on social media and not to the police station.
