Police Patrol and

Communications
By:
PSSUPT NAPOLEON B PASCUA (Ret)
Visibility Patrol Strategies
--High Visibility Patrol – the theory
underlying HVP is that there are certain
kinds of crimes that can be reduced by an
aura of the police (omnipresence)
--Low Visibility Patrol – is often used to
apprehend criminals engaged in targeted
types of crimes. Its secondary effect is that
other types of crimes will be deterred as a
result of greater probability of persons being
arrested in the commission of a crime. +
--Street Questioning – Police officers in
patrol may interview individuals within
the bounds of law, as a deterrent to
criminals who intends to commit a crime.

--Decoy Patrol – This patrol method

relies heavily upon deception, lying and
disguise. Decoy patrol is performed by a
group of highly trained specialists rather
than regular patrol officers.
--Street Interview and
Interrogation part of the stop-and-
frisk method. The objective is to
nip-in-the bud crime by
aggressively interrogating
individuals in places where crimes
may have just happened, are
happening, or about to happen.
 Patterns of Patrol

--Clockwise
--Counter-clockwise
--Zigzag or free-wheeling
--Straightway pattern
 Factors to be Considered when
Designing Patrol Beats

--Size of the area to be covered

--Natural or man-made barriers
--Crime Incidence
--Population density
--Capability
Police Communication Systems

Effective communication can produce numerous

benefits. It can be used to inform, persuade, diffuse,
guide, motivate, reassure and negotiate. On the
other hand, ineffective communication can lead to
confusion, false expectations, wrong conclusions,
negative stereotypes, anger and hostility.

Communication is part of the patrol officer’s duty,

not only when they interact with the public, but also
when they give to and receive messages from their
supervisors and co-workers.
 Police communication is the backbone of police
tactics; without communication, the modern police
department would be lost because communication
has always been part of law enforcement.

Communication can be defined simply as the

activity of conveying thought and ideas. It can be
considered an interpersonal process of sending and
receiving messages through symbols and gestures.
 ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION
Another way to clearly understand communication
is to identify the key elements, namely:
1. Sender or the source
2. Message is what the sender attempts to transmit
3. Encoding is how the message is transmitted (oral,
written, action)
4. Channel is the medium or method of
communication. It is the path of the communication
from sender to receiver (letters, telephone, radios or
e-mails)
5. Receiver is the party who attends to, interprets, and
respond to the transmitted message.
6. Decoding is the process where the
message’s content is interpreted or
internalized.
7. Feedback is the feedback that conveys
to the transmitter that the message is
understood by the receiver, the point at
which the communication loop is reversed.
 COMMNUNICATION CHANNELS

Channels and directions of

communication deal with the flow or
movement of information from the sender to
the recipient. Channels of information refer
or avenues by which information flows from
one party to another, while direction of
information indicates the way in which
communication flow.
 Formal channels use the traditional
route or method of communication in any
police organization usually follows the
chain of command. Informal channels
such as the grapevine, rumor mill, or
departmental gossip are the unofficial
routes of communication.
 BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

Emotional (low esteem)

Physical (equip’t malfunction,
distance, etc. . .)
Semantic (inability to agree on
the meaning of certain terms)