Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

A number of studies were conducted in order to find out the cause

of the problem and to define the solutions for it. Studies revealed that the

traditional practice of continuous patrolling and other highly reactive

approaches to combat crime has not helped in any way to reduce the

crime rate prevailing in the society. These circumstances lead to the

recognition on the part of the government that problems relating to crime

fighting and the problems relating to the relationship between the police

and the community are interrelated. In 1967, the President's commission

on Law enforcement and administration of justice proposed that a new

kind of police system should be introduced. In the later years this

proposal provided the ground for the establishment of a new model for

policing. The philosophy being adopted to develop this model was

focused on creating a law enforcement system, which tries to bring the

police and the general public in close relationships and provides the

police department an opportunity to solve the community problems.

The rising trend of criminality is a worldwide phenomenon,

victimizing both developed and developing countries. As noted in 1991

United Nation Publication on crime prevention: “Serious crime is an

exceptionally severe problem for the majority of the nation of the world.

Domestic crime has outstripped the control of most individual nations.”

Taking cognizance of the serious problem, United Nation initiated the

1
holding of Ministerial Conference on Crime Prevention at Chateau de

Versailles in France on November 21 – 23, 1991. During this well-

attended historic occasion, several delegations voice out the mean for an

urge the body to come up with an appropriate anti-crime strategy.

At that time and in the succeeding years, the Philippines was being

best by an upsurge in crime, especially organize and heinous crimes. It

subsequently spawned public outcry and indignation which alarmed

even the foreign investors. In response, in May 1993, the Philippine

National Police (PNP) started establishing nationwide several KABAYAN

Centers – its version of the Japanese “Koban” or police box system. The

KABAYAN concept was improved and eventually renamed as Community

Oriented Policing System (COPS) which was made a flagship program of

the PNP. The PNP by DirGen. Recaredo A Sarmiento II on August 15,

1994. However, just like in United States, “confusion exists as to just

community policing is”, and as observed by Chief Supt. Crisogono

Francisco, “only a handful a police station have actually applied the

concept”.

Community Oriented Policing System (COPS) is a developing

paradigm for law enforcement that places an emphasis on prevention of

crime through a program placing the police and the community in closer

contact and making them partners in achieving a reduction in crime. The

approach has gone by several different names but is based largely on a

proactive view of the role of the police and on making the police more a

2
part of the community and less a last refuge for victims after a crime has

been committed. This approach started as Community-Based Policing

(which did not lend itself to the sort of descriptive acronym that COP

does). Kenney and McNamara (1999) state, "Community-oriented policing

. . . emphasize improved police-community relations in hopes that will

assist in solving many problems in particular neighborhoods”.

Propose and Scope

While it is true that “crime is everybody’s business”, most of the

citizens are not conversant with and take for granted the “business of

crime prevention and control.” They have the tendency to be complacent

and fatalistic (“Bahala na “attitude); such that, they shall do something

about it, only after being victimized by the crime. They are best described

by a French proverb, “When the horse has been stolen, the fools shuts

the stable.” It is therefore imperative to provide them with a triad of the

Citizens Anti-Crime Safeguards (CACS); which could be availed of and

instituted by the self-reliant and resourceful members of the Community

on their own.

Basic Principles/Foundation of COPS

To appreciate COPS in its proper perspective and develop the

proper mindset about it, a foreknowledge of the basic principles that

serves as its foundation shall be very helpful and conducive. They are as

follows:

3
 1. Democracy
As enshrined in the Constitution, “the Philippines is a democratic

and republican state”. As such, our is “government of the people, by the

people and for the people.” It is, therefore, imperative for people to

participate in and support the processes, programs and activities of the

government; if we want to attain the “Sunnum Bonum” or the greatest

good for the greatest number of our people.

Based on the foregoing, the Government has two components: the

Formal and Informal. The Formal Component refers to the official

government that is composed of officials and the employees, who are

duly elected or appointed by the duly constituted authorities. They

constitute the bureaucracy or the public sector, which are collectively

known as public servants.

On the other hand, the Informal Component is made up of the

citizenry, otherwise known as the Private Sector. This means that they

are either self-employed or working in private enterprises. Hence, they

are not dependent on the government for their livelihood. In fact, it is the

government who is dependent on them for support in the form of taxes,

dues, etc. Be that as it may, the private sector is considered part of the

government. The effectiveness and success of the government shall

greatly depend on the support and participation of the Informal Part.

Ideally, the citizen should be just like those described by John F.

Kennedy, who will “ask not what your country can do for you, but ask

what you can do for your country.”

2. Criminal Justice System

4
 It is the machinery used by a democratic government to protect the

society against crime and other peace and order problems. The formal

component consists of the Law Enforcement, Prosecution, Courts and

Corrections Pillars. The Informal Component is the Community Pillar.

This is composed of the private sector, made up of the citizenry. The

effectiveness and efficiency of the Criminal Justice System shall depend

mainly on the support and participation of the Informal Part or

Community Pillar of the Formal Part of Law Enforcement, Prosecution,

Courts and Corrections Pillars. The Community is the source of

information, testimonies and piece of evidence; as well as the supporting

arm of the Law enforcement Pillar in the form of volunteers, equipment,

supplies, etc. It is also the one that shall provide testimonies and pieces

of evidence to the Prosecution and Courts Pillars. Likewise,

This Pillar is helping the Corrections Pillar in the rehabilitation and re-

acceptance of convicts once released to the main stream of society.

3. Who are Police?
The answer to this question which serves as the germinal principle

upon which COPS is principally based, was provided by Sir Robert Peel.

Bobby Peel, who was Home Minister in the 1820’s, is the founder of the

British Police Force, whose members are called Bobbies. His answer:

“The police are the public and the public are the police. Police officers are

those who are paid to give full time attention to the duties of every

citizen”.
Based on this concept or Peel principle, the police have also two

components, namely: the Formal and the Informal. The Formal

5
Component consists of the PNP uniformed Personnel, NBI, LTO and other

government law enforcement agencies. All PNP uniformed personnel are

called police officers, whether commissioned (PCOs) or non-

commissioned (PNCOs). They are all being paid by the government to

render fulltime attention to police duties, which are also the duties of

every citizen.
The Informal Component is composed of the citizenry or private

sector. Based on the Peel Principle, the citizens are also part of the police

who are doing it on a part-time basis. As such, they are the police non-

officers or ordinary members, who are not paid by the government. It is

on this basis that private individuals are vested also with police authority

to make arrests based on the doctrine on citizen’s arrest. Furthermore,

the duty being performed by police officers is also the duty of every

citizen.
4. People’s Power
Philippines during the 1986 EDSA Revolution that toppled Marcos.

In several communist countries, communist revolutionaries managed to

take over power through People’s Power which they harnessed through

what they call People’s War. People’s Power revolutions toppled down

also several communist regimes countries around the world.

A stable society in order to justify existence in pursuit of the

inherent objectives of the government must have the benefit of a

peaceful and orderly condition, conducive to the fulfillment of the

aspirations of the people. Enforcing laws and maintaining peace and

6
order is among the fundamental duties of the Philippine National

Police (PNP).

With the ever-changing landscape of crime in the country, the

Philippine National Police (PNP), which is the primary agency

mandated by law to maintain peace and order must also come up

with innovations in policing that can address the sophistication of

criminality and lawlessness.

Tracing the history of policing, it has practically developed from a

highly controlled government force through the Philippine National

Police.

Police work does not only entail the utilization of firepower to

fight the perpetrators of crime and other lawless elements of the

society. It is not all guns and physical might; it is not just guts and

muscles that matter. It takes a lot more than these. Police belong to a

certain social system, which is a complex set of human relationships

interacting in many ways.

A police officer is expected to have the mind of a lawyer, the soul

of a clergy, the heart of a social worker, the discipline of an army

sergeant and the integrity of a saint. He must believe in a community

of laws while seeing and dealing a lot of lawlessness, believes in the

goodness of a man

7
Who resents his presence but depends on his faithfulness, knows his

jurisdiction like a sociologist and he must understand people like a

philosopher (Tradio, 1970).

A service-oriented police can propagate cooperation from the

community and once there is cooperation, criminality will be zero for

there will be harmonious relationship with the community. A

wholesome relationship between the police and the community counts

more than any other weapon in law enforcement. Being able to

harness the community’s confidence, trust and wholehearted support

in the police is already half the battle won over criminality and

lawlessness. One way to achieve this is through the good relationship

with the community.

Community involvement inculcates a feeling of neighborhood

identity. Every individual who resides in the community should

always bear in mind to share his collective responsibility for his own

and his neighbors’ safety and for the security of their goods and

priorities. Consequently, the active participation of the citizenry is

very vital to an effective, efficient and successful law enforcement and

public safety.

Active community support is essential to the achievement of police

operations and even investigative works and it is enhanced by

community-based information networks, the quality of which heavily

depends on the PNP’s police community relations’ efforts.

8
 Acknowledging the community is a virtual minefield of

information and it would be advantageous for the PNP to channel it

towards the attainment of the ends of law enforcement. The PNP

needs to go down to the groundwork so that the community can be

mobilized for the maintenance of peace and order. Therefore, this

research work hinged on the implication on Community-Oriented

Policing System and Effectiveness of PNP towards a more pro-

active/productive/or fruitful Police Community Relations.

Statement of the problem

This study entitled “THE COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING

SYSTEM (COPS) IN THE PROVINCE OF LA UNION PPO: AN EVALUATIVE

STUDY’, aims tom look into the full implementation of the so called

COPS program. COPS in the province of La Union PPO, with the end in

view of bringing about a very smooth relationship between the PNP and

the communities they serve so that there would be stronger, healthier

human relationships which would result to amore intensified

positive/productive Philippine National Police community relations.

Specifically the study aims to zero in the following:

1. What is the demographic profile of the PNP PCR personnel in the

Province of La Union Police Provincial Office (LUPPO) in terms of the

following personal factors?

a. Age

9
 b. Gender

c. Educational attainment

d. Civil status

e. Training/seminars

2. What is the so called Community-Oriented Policing System (COPS)

in the PNP?

3. What is the level of awareness of the community in the

Municipality and the Province of La Union of the Community

Oriented Policing System (COPS) Program?

4. What are the different services and activities undertaken by the

PNP under COPS program in the community in the Province of La

Union?

5. Which of the following community base, community oriented

activities are actually being implemented in the Province of La

Union?

a. Medical missions

b. Enhancement Training of Tanods

c. Civilian Volunteers Organization/BPATS

d. Teacher ko Pulis ko

e. Balik Eskwela program

f. Batang Mahirap Sagot ko

g. Livelihood Skills

10
 h. Information trainings and information dissemination of

Government program

6. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the implementation of

the various COPS program/activities or what are the factors

that affect the implementation of the various COPS programs

and activities in the Province of La Union?

a. Adequacy of fund

b. Adequacy of personnel

c. Training

d. Facilities

e. Cooperation

f. Attitude

g. Availability

7. What reasons/suggestions/recommendations does the researcher

make to further improve the implementation of the COPS?

Significance of the study

The effective implementation of the Community-Oriented

Policing System programs, a strong more peaceful and more orderly

community relation that results to the improvement of the quality of life

of people.

Scope and Delimitation

11
 The study will only focus on Police Community Relation matters on

the Police Community Relation and the Community-Oriented Policing

System activities only.

Definition of Terms

For purposes of clarity and understanding, the following terms

used were operationally defined.

Police Community Relations – it is the sum total dealings of the police

with the people it serves and whose goodwill and cooperation it have for

the greatest possible efficiency in public service.

COPS – an acronym for Community-Oriented Policing System, it is

friendly approach of enforcing the laws and regulations and safeguarding

the community thru the implementation of various

programs/projects/activities with the active support and participation of

the community.

Community Policing – it is a philosophy and management approach

that promotes community government and police partnership and pro-

active problem solving to address the causes of crime, fear of crime and

other community issue.

Police Community Partnership – it is strengthen the police-community

goodwill and create an environment of friendship between the police and

the people within the barangay.

12
Effectiveness – it refers to the degree of community satisfaction and the

overall impact on the state of peace and order, public safety and the

quality of life brought about by the COPs operational in the community.

Efficiency – it is measures of the percentage of mobilize able resources

actually mobilized/used and the degree of economy attained in their

allocation and utilization. This is the gauge of the accomplishment of

the mission and objectives.

Crime Response - This pertains to the actual and immediate action of

PNP Personnel of La Union in responding to a crime, complaints, and

calls for police support.

PNP Image - This refers to the over all outlook of PNP Personnel.

Police Leadership - This pertains to the good leader-management of

police being in the forefront.

Communication and Coordination - This is the well-defined exchange

of information/ideas and observations between the police and

community. It is also the clearness of transmission of message between

PNP and community.

PNP Personnel - This refers to the men and women employees of the

PNP who consists of Police Commissioned Officers (PCOs), Police Non-

Commissioned Officers (PNCOs) and the Non-Uniformed Personnel

(NUP) or civilian employees of PNP.

Age - This refers to the number of years of existence of a certain PNP

Personnel since birth.

13
Sex - This refers to the sexual classification of the PNP Personnel

whether male or female.

Civil Status - This refers to the societal standings of PNP Personnel

whether single, married, widow or widower.

Rank - This is the status of a certain PNP Personnel given upon

appointment into police service. It refers in this study the rank as PO1,

PO2, PO3, SPO1, SPO2 and so on…

Educational Attainment - This is the highest professional or

educational accomplishment of PNP Personnel.

Training/Seminar - This is the training or seminar undergone by PNP

Personnel in relation to their sworn duties and responsibilities as police

office.

14
 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

POLICE COMMUNITY RELATIONS

In the context of police-community relations, the different

perspectives of communities seem to be particularly. Basically, the police

community relationship is a form of inter-group relations as both police

and community regard each other as an identifiable group with specific

characteristics.

In police service, public relations and community dealings are

very important to maintain public safety. According to Canfield and

Moore (1973) public relations was born in the early years of the 20 th

century in the United States of America. It shows that people’s view has

long been recognized and with such recognition, there came about

response practices. These practices became what are now called public

relations.

As per account of Kogan (1965), he emphasized in his book that

reading the papers one can come across the staggering amount raised

annually for charitable causes not only in America, but in almost all

places of the world. Once gets a fair presentation of the extent of public

sympathy evoked and the amount of public relations efforts utilized in

these fields.

15
 In the INP Manual (1976) Police effectiveness depends largely

upon public support based on the faith of the people in their police. To

assure the maximum efficiency, the police shall endeavor to gain public

support by conducting massive and sustained activities in the field of

good community relations.

Police Community Relations may very well termed a functional

“rainbow coalition”. Its ratifications, though seemingly stemming from

one source are actually products of a holistic effort, concerted in such a

way that the result becomes one massive force.

Escarcha (1977) noted in his study that the role perception of

both the police and the community in law enforcement and police

community relations and the adjustments undertaken is to establish a

sound and effective relationship in the fight against criminality;

1. The “perception of policemen’s role and citizens’

assistance is very much rooted in law enforcement. Police-community

relations as form of social defense may enrich the traditional concept of

police work as it stresses more on prevention of crimes.

2. Increased police-to-population ratio makes policemen

visible in their community. The visibility of policemen in the public

places is one deterrent to crime. It is an effective mechanism of bringing

the police closer to the community.

3. Policemen shall tap the assistance that the citizens may

well be willing to share.

16
 Police Community Relations by the term itself, embraces the

three areas: the police which is the law enforcer; the community

which is the context of the Criminal Justice System refers to the

elements that are mobilized and energized to help the authorities in

effectively addressing the law and order concerns of the citizenry and

relations is a two-way system involving the continuous and

harmonious exchange sharing of ideas, information, experiences and

activities (PNP Journal 4th Quarter 2006).

Police Community Relations is therefore the network that

connects all the five pillars together and that which strengthens the tie

that binds the peacekeepers and citizenry. PCR is actually the binding

element in the PNP Quad Concept (PNP Journal, 2006).

Community-Oriented Policing System

The rising trend of criminality is a worldwide phenomenon,

victimizing both developed and developing countries. As noted in a

1991 United Nations publication on Crime Prevention: “Serious crime is

an exceptionally severe problem for the majority of the nations of the

world Domestic crime has outstripped the control of most individual in

nations,” Taking cognizance of the serious problem, the United Nations

initiated the holding of the Ministerial Conference on Crime Prevention

at Chateau de Versailles in France on November 21-23, 1991. During

this well attended historic occasion, several delegations voiced out the

17
need for and urged the body to come up with on appropriate anti-crime

strategy.

At the time and the succeeding years, the Philippines were being

best by an upsurge in crime especially organized and heinous crimes. It

subsequently spawned public out cry and indignation which alarmed

even the foreign investors. In response, in May 1993 the Philippine

National Police (PNP) started establishing nationwide several KABAYAN

Centers – its version of the Japanese “Koban” or police box system. The

KABAYAN concept was improved and eventually renamed as

Community-Oriented Policing System (COPS) which was made a

flagship program on the PNP by Dir Gen Recaredo A Sarmiento II on

August 15, 1994. However, just like in United States, “confusion exist

as to just community policing is”, and as Chief Supt Crisogono

Francisco,” only a handful of police station have actually applied the

concept”.

COMMUNITY POLICING

Community safety is everyone’s responsibility and crime

prevention is everyone’s business. This statement reflects the

understanding that strategic partnerships working diligently towards a

community-based shared responsibility that can prevent crime. The

intention of this partnership is to create safe communities from the

corporate sector right down to the local neighborhood level by

18
empowering the community to play an active role in crime reduction

initiatives.

Active Community Support is essential to the success of the PNP

operations because the impact is on their lives and concerns. The police

can use this concern in the presentation of crime and its solution when

it occurs. The PNP therefore needs to lay down to the groundwork so

that community can be mobilized for the maintenance of peace and

order. Partnership requires strong and committed leadership from every

person who has responsibility for community policing and public

safety.

In a National Crime Prevention Council Handouts, (2006) it

defined that a community policing is a policing philosophy that

promotes and supports organizational strategies to address the causes

of crime to reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through

problem-solving tactics and community-police partnership.

The philosophy rests on the belief that law abiding citizens in the

community have the responsibility to participate in the police process.

It also rests on the belief that solutions to today’s contemporary

community problems demand freeing both community residents and

law enforcement to explore creative ways to address neighborhood

concerns beyond a narrow focus on individual crimes.

Community policing does not work unless the community and

the police agency view themselves as being full partners in maintaining

19
peaceful relations among the people living. Overcoming mistrust

between the community and law enforcement is not easy task. It takes

a number of meetings and opportunities for interaction before trust is

built, once communities and law enforcement build that trust, it leads

to an effective working relationship where each plays a critical role in

attaining the mission of community policing.

Sir Robert Peel, who is considered as the father of law

enforcement projected nine (9) principles of policing such as:

1. The basic mission for whom the police exist is to prevent crime

and disorder.

2. The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent

upon public approval of police actions.

3. Police must secure the willing cooperation of the public in

voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and

maintain the respect of the public.

4. The degree of cooperation of the public that can be secured

diminishes proportionally to the necessity of the use of force.

5. Police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to public

opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial

service of the law.

6. Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure

observance of the law or to restore order when the expertise of

persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient.

20
 7. Police at all times should maintain a relationship with the

public that gives reality to the historic tradition; the police are

the public and the public are the police.

8. Police should always direct their actions strictly towards their

functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the

judiciary.

9. The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and

disorder not the visible evidence of police action in dealing

with it.

Community policing as a step towards the eventual integration of

law enforcement into the spectrum of human services provided by the

government should be accountable for eliminating conditions

threatening the safety of the public.

In a symposium article entitled Community Policing from a

Community Perspective (http//www.cahro.org, 2007), it was emphasized

that police officers involved in community policing view their job as

primarily identifying local conditions and issues that lead to criminality

and taking steps for remedy. Responding to criminal acts is still part of

the job, but it is like a doctor putting a band-aid on an infectious sore. It

has to be done but, the real work is to find the source of infection and

take action to cure it. It is the expanded view of the work one that is not.

Community policing is the initiation of dialog between police and

community (those who live and work in the area within a police

21
jurisdiction) to review law enforcement issues, determine the

underlying dynamics in the community that allow the issues and

problems to persist, select priorities and design and implement an

action that offers opportunities for police and people in the community

to partner resources and coordinate efforts.

The kernel of community policing is involving law enforcement in

a partnership with the people in their jurisdiction to identify and

resolve community problems that lead to criminal activity. If law

enforcement is setting its own priorities without a mechanism for a

broad representation of the community to participate in the process, it

is missing out on one of the critical elements of community policing.

However, to be able to realize the PNP’s objective, the police must

take a role as the pace-setter in this effort. Policemen on the streets

must take a lead role. Necessarily, the police must capitalize on the

“intrinsic goodwill which characterizes the relationship of the police and

the community.” It should be the objective of every PNP member to “win

a friend everyday through adhering the motto of SAMBAYAN:

“Magkaibigan at Magkasama sa Hirap at Ginhawa” and make it an

everyday effort (DPCR Sambayan, 2002).

CRIME PREVENTION

Crime prevention and community safety is a key component of

homeland security, a reality that also requires a community-based

response. Cultivating effective prevention partnership will be necessary

22
in order to achieve the difficult public safety demands faced in today’s

perilous world.

As the world changes, so do the challenges facing police officers.

In the forefront are the difficulties faced in determining the operatives’

strategic direction to best utilize limited resources in the most effective

manner. These challenges are made more difficult by a noticeable

absence of external training in the areas of program development, risk

management, terrorism detection and crime suppression techniques

due to insufficient funds.

Due to these challenges, all police service need to look toward the

community to increase the arsenal of the eyes and ears on the streets

and encourage the proactive reporting of suspicious person and

activities. Although the police will always remain front and center in the

battle against crime, it is becoming increasingly apparent in an era of

reduced policing budgets and diminished staffing levels that they can

no longer go it alone.

A community-based approach composed of a shared vision, must

be developed with appropriate strategies, proper allocation of resources

and the implementation of timely initiatives. When combined with the

strategic mobilization of the community, the end result is an effective

crime prevention model designed to take full advantage of the strengths

of all participating partners, (The Police Chief Journal, 2004).

23
 In the research article of Perigut (1981), he identified four

separate categories of crime and delinquency prevention.

 Corrective prevention attempts to prevent crime by

ameliorating social conditions which seem to lead to crime.

 Punitive prevention uses police to deter crime through

lawyers, the police courts, goals and the legal system.

There are three (3) Core Components of Community–Oriented

Policing System; namely: Full Service Policing, Problem solving and

Community Partnership. It should be recalled that the NACS has also

three component strategic concepts; namely: Security/Crime Reduction

Campaign, Development Package/Crime Pre-emption Campaign and

Anti-Crime People Empowerment. They correspond exactly to one

another, with the COPS Core components at the community level and the

NACS strategic concepts at the national level.

Full Service Policing

It signifies that under COPS, the police shall simultaneously

perform crime prevention, crime suppression, crime intervention, crime

attrition and crime deterrence drives to secure the community the

community against crime and other treats. These drives are as

envisioned and discussed in the NACS, which correspond to its

Security/Crime Reduction Campaign. On the policing proper alone,

COPS is tremendously expanding the protective services for the

community. Traditional policing is merely reactive to crime

24
incidents/limiting itself to crime attrition drive (investigation/follow up of

cases) and crime intervention drive (911 or 166 responses). COPS are

adding crime prevention, crime suppression and crime deterrence drives

which are all proactive approaches to combating crime. In COPS, the

proactive drives shall be the main effort and optimized in order to

minimize the calls, volume of work and resources dedicated for the

reactive drives. If successful, this will unclog the dockets of the

Prosecution and the Courts Pillars depopulate the Corrections Pillar.

Problem Solving

This core component is focused on the problems that serve as root-

causes or breeding grounds of crime. COPS shall anticipate /defect,

study and address these problems, so that crime shall be preempted, or

at least minimized. This is the most proactive component of COPS. It

corresponds to the development package/crime preemption campaign of

the NACS. This is where the participation and support of the citizenry,

local government units, NGOS, academe and the like in the community

would be extremely valuable.

COPS shall concentrate on the problems that are indigenous

variables, prioritized based on the concerns/priorities of the community

being served. Common problems being encountered in most

communities revolved around the poverty, abuses/injustices, ignorance,

fear, lost of family values and many others. Correspondingly problem-

25
solving efforts under COPS shall also involved specific projects and

activities such as moral /spiritual renewal, education, good government,

security, value formation, recovery and other programs including legal

reform program.

Community Partnership

The effectiveness and success of Pull Service policing and Problem

Solving shall depend mainly on this components. It is the linchpin

component that will determine whether COPS shall succeed or not. This

is due to the fact that this is the key to unleashing people’s power, which

shall tremendously boost the capabilities of the police to effectively

undertake both full service policing and program solving.

The main objective of community partnership is to

motivate/catalyze, organize and mobilize the citizenry as many as

possible, to perform their duties as part-time and informal component of

the police. For this purpose, organizational, propaganda, political, police

and ideological drives shall be waged, as envisioned and explained in the

NACS. The mobilized citizenry shall be tapped to participate in and/or

support the full service policing, problem solving and community

partnership efforts of the police and/or local government units and

agencies.

To be able to establish and maximize Community Partnership,

there should be mutual trust between the police and the Community.

To gain sympathy and build the trust of the community, the “police must

26
treat the people with respect and sensitivity. The use of unnecessary

force and arrogance, aloofness, or rudeness at any level of the agency will

dampen the willingness of community members to ally themselves with

the police.”

To complete and consolidate our grasp of Community-Oriented

Policing System, the nine (9) elements of COPS shall be enumerated and

concisely explained. They are also known as the 9 Ps, as all of the

elements start with letter P. By way of clarification, the Core components

are also included as elements.

Philosophy

The philosophical foundation of COPS rest on the belief that the

present and future crime and other peace and order problems require the

police to provide full service policing and problem solving with the active

participation and support of the community. The police should accept

the fact that the reactive traditional policing and isolationist type of

professionalism are no longer adequate and responsive to the

contemporary challenges they are facing. An organization/agency-wide

commitment should accompany this belief system which implies changes

in mindset, and decentralization/flexibility with respect to policies and

procedures. The commitment should also back up the efforts to make

COPS work and succeed.

Personalized

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 COPS officers/practitioners should assimilate and familiarize

themselves totally with their operational environment in the community.

They have to meet and establish person to person contact with and gain

the sympathy and trust of as many members of the community as

possible. It must be emphasized that sympathy and trust of the

community are the unseen key and indispensable factors to the success

of COPS.

Patrols

COPS officers must work and patrol in their defined beat areas or

mini-areas of operational responsibility (AORs), preferably as often as

possible/necessary. It is involves short distances, they should patrol on

foot; if medium distances, by bicycle; if long distances, by motorcycle or

horseback. The goal is to establish person to person contacts and

gain/build the trust and confidence of the community to the police. This

is the vehicle/medium that will enable COPS officers to satisfy the

personalized elements of the COPS. It has been observed that the use of

mobile cars and patrol jeeps isolated the police from the community,

because of lost of contact. It also instituted fear among the people, as

mobile cars/patrol jeeps have been closely associated with

arrests/raids/encounters.

Permanent

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 COPS officers should be assigned permanently, at least 18 months,

to defined beats or mini-AORs. The underlying reason is, so that they

will have enough time, opportunity and continuity to familiarize them

and develop partnership with the residents in the community. By

permanently assigning COPS officers to the same beat/mini-AOR, the

advantage of assimilated police forces shall be realized; such as

familiarity with the terrain, knowing the bonafide and law-abiding

residents, having a built-in network of supporters and informants.

Place

All jurisdictions or AORs should be divided/sectored into distinct

neighborhoods in urban areas and clusters of barangays in the rural

areas. These shall serve as the mini_AORs to be assigned to COPS units

and/or officers. They will serve as mini-Chiefs of Police in their

respective mini-AORs. As such, they will be held responsible and

commensurate authority shall be delegated to them by their superior

officers/commanders.

Proactive

COPS shall have a proactive focus of pre-empting, preventing,

suppressing and deterring crimes. It shall anticipate, or at least detect

as early as possible problems and crimes that are about to or actually

happening. Appropriate proactive measures shall be immediately

formulated and implemented in collaboration with the community. The

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objective is to pre-empt or prevent their occurrence; or at least minimize

the damage, in case they happen.

Policing

COPS shall provide full service policing to the community

Problem Solving

COPS expand the mission of the police to include solving problems,

especially those that abet or serves as breeding grounds of crime.

Partnership

COPS consider it imperative and indispensable for the police to

establish community partnership.

Objectives of the Police Community Relations and activities of the

PNP in the Community towards the effectiveness of the COPS

program

The underlying dictum of Police Community Relations Program of

“Doing Good and Telling the People about it” can never be realized

without the sincere police-community relationship that is based wholly

on mutual trust and confidence.

In the PNP all system whether administrative or operational,

strategic or tactical must be directed towards the purpose. The impact

will not be seen and felt overnight. It requires a meticulous and

dedicated day-to-day effort. It requires the everyday re-invention of

tasks and the gradual shift in thinking. More than these, it requires the

humility to listen to people.

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 Police Community Relations is Public Relations. It is winning the

hearts, minds of the people whom the police is sworn to protect, and it

has the following objectives:

 Develop consciousness and awareness among the citizenry

of the insurgency problem, on the basic crime prevention,

penal laws, local ordinance, etc.

 Develop positive perceptions, attitudes and opinions

towards the PNP and the personnel.

 Develop a motivated public willing enough to actively

participate and support Law Enforcement Programs and

Projects launched with in their respective communities

(Police Media Relations Manual, 1997).

In PCR Mission, it is emphasized that the Police Community

Relations whereby the police and community consolidate the working

cooperation and confidence of the national community by means of

professional, dynamic and motivated performance.

Police Community Relations can be defined as the sum total dealings

of the police with the people it serves and whose goodwill and

cooperation it have for the greatest possible efficiency in public service

(PCR Manual, 2003).

Since the PNP is determined to be the pace-setter in forging a

united front of community action against crime, the PCR is actively

implementing its timely projects under the leadership of the chief PNP.
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 1. The Organizational Plan (OPLAN SAMBAYAN)

In this Organization SAMBAYAN, activities shall be directed

towards the External Target to generate community partnership and

also as partners in security and development. Under this effort, the

mission is to organize the different community sectors and forge a

united front against crime, terrorism insurgency and other forms of

lawlessness.

The OPLAN SAMBAYAN adhere the COPS philosophy to

establish congruence between the realities of police actions to the

message of friendship that it foists on the people. Using this

philosophy, the individual police validate goodwill and enhance

credibility and pave the way for the easy organizational effort. It is also

needed that PNP shall engage in the effort of organizing in order to form

a network of strong ties with the communities as the basic of organized

and strong republic.

Objectives of SAMBAYAN

1. To strengthen police-community goodwill and create an

environment of friendship between the police on the streets

and the people.

2. To organize the community and forge the team which will

forward efforts for the establishment of a tourism friendly

environment.

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 3. To cultivate and create the tone of a citizen-police partnership

to serve the cause of peace and order in the community.

4. To seek the cooperation and active support of the community

for crime prevention and control, creating an unfavorable

environment for criminal elements and enemies of the State.

5. To mobilize the community to change the conditions that

generates crime.

6. To facilitate the transition towards proactive policing activities

from the reactive incident-driven model.

7. To form force-multipliers thru empowerment of the people

towards community involvement.

A. STRATEGIC CONCEPT:

This Organization Plan is designed to pave the way for the

establishment of a united front against criminality and other threats to

peace and order. This united front, which shall be composed of different

sectors, shall serve as the force multiplier of the PNP in its continuing

effort to harness the community in its campaign against all forms of

criminality.

1. NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERSHIP (O.N.E. PNP Program of

Action)

The ONE PNP program focuses on people-driven efforts because

the people know best what their needs and priorities are. Neighborhood

partnerships shall be developed and nurtured for there is no tool more

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powerful in the fight against criminality and other threats to national

security than the support and confidence of every member of the

community. Strong neighborhood partnerships shall be developed

through the enhancement of the Community-Oriented Policing System

(COPS) in all police units as its philosophy nationwide. A strong COPS

program is crucial in making the presence of the police more strongly

felt in the communities, which is an important factor in effectively

forging closer neighborhood partnerships.

2. United Front Against Criminality

The PNP shall develop a united front, composed of the different

sectors of the community which shall serve as its force multiplier in the

fight against all forms of criminality. Considering the limited resources

of the police force especially in terms of manpower, the development of

various groups such as the barangays, security guards and other

sectors as partners of the PNP shall serve to further boost its anti-crime

efforts.

B. OPERATIONAL CONCEPT

To effectively carry out this Plan, the PNP shall utilize the AOM

concept, which involves three phases namely: Awareness and

Education, Organizing Community, and Mobilizing Communication.

Furthermore, it shall involve a sustained alliance building effort,

tapping the various sectors of the community and strengthening all

linkage with the LGUs and NGOs and other community movers who

34
can effectively support and contribute to the achievement of the PNP’s

anti-crime objectives.

1. Awareness and Enlightenment

The effort is geared towards awakening the citizenry on their roles and

responsibilities in the peace and order effort, making them fully realize

that the problem of criminality is a shared responsibility between the

community and the police. The effort shall, at the same time aim to

generate or win back the trust and confidence of the people. This effort

focuses on continuously informing the public on the facts and issues

vital to the transformation of the police force into a more efficient and

respected organization.

a. Organization

This effort involves the organization of groups and allies within

various sectors of the community who can be tapped to assist in the

conduct of law enforcement and other public safety concerns. It

includes the conduct of such activities as seminar, trainings and

similar undertakings to heighten the involvement of individuals in

worthwhile community endeavors. Through this effort, linkage with

government agencies, non-government organizations and other people

organizations will be developed and enhanced.

b. Mobilization

35
 The community shall be mobilized to participate in community-

based crime prevention activities, pro-democracy rallies and

assemblies. Moreover, the community shall be mobilized to participate

in rescue and relief activities during disaster and calamities. Organized

sectors shall also be mobilized to conduct community work activities

such as skills development trainings, livelihood/cooperative

development, socio-cultural development, agricultural regeneration

activities and medical/dental outreach services.

2. The Communication Plan (OPLAN SANTINIG)

Information Plan SANTINIG uses the various forms of media for

the Internal and External targets. Under this effort, the mission is to

provide adequate, accurate, relevant and timely information about the

PNP Programs and activities and to clarify issues pertaining to the PNP.

It shall use information operations to attain psychological advantage

and enhance skills of personnel to be Community Organizers and PCR

practitioners and for the community to support PNP programs.

3. GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT (GAD) Mainstreaming

Gender mainstreaming is a strategy to build women’s and men’s

concern and experiences in the design, implementation, monitoring and

evaluation of policies, programs and projects in all political, economic

and societal agenda. Its end goal is to enable both women and men to

equally contribute to and benefit from the fruits of development.

3. TO SERVE AND PROTECT ADVOCACY (TSAPA)

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 A disciplined police officer has to understand that in the

performance of his study, he can create an impact to the quality of life of

individuals and of society. The nature of the functions of law

enforcement in maintaining public order and the manner in which those

functions are exercised have a direct impact on the quality of life

individuals and of the society as a whole. Thus the PNP as a premiere

law enforcement institution of the land, has to be conscious of such

important task which law enforcement personnel need to perform

diligently and with dignity in public service. In the fulfillment of their

profession, police officers should be responsible for disciplining

themselves in complete conformity with the principles and standards of

law enforcement. In a manner of speaking, this responsibility ought to

become part of the creed of every member of the police agency. The duty

of the police to serve and protect the community is anchored on the basic

principles of human rights where everyone is respected with human

dignity and entitled to equal protection of law.

Today, police officers are expected to function effectively in a

more sophisticated society. Officers are not willing to accept autocratic

leadership that requires them to follow orders without question. This

kind of leadership causes poor morale; reduce organizational

effectiveness and it also leads to the loss of quality personnel who seek

employment elsewhere rather than being subjected to an ineffective and

poor leadership. Leveriza (1995) stressed that a leader in exercising his

37
function rests on his decision-making, gaining his people’s acceptance

of decision and execution of plans.

Drake and Roe (1994) also emphasized that leadership is a

planned process that will be resulted in the following:

1. Challenging people to work collaboratively towards an

ever-expanding vision of excellence in the achievement of organizational

and professional goals and objectives;

2. Creating a threat-free environment for growth so that the

creative talents and skills of each person are used to best advantage.

3. Encouraging and building working relationships that

they are individually and organizationally satisfying and strengthening

the realization of mutually determined goals and objectives; and

4. Optimizing available materials and human resources.

If police leadership is to improve officials in the department, the

Chief PNP down through the chain of command must be committed to

change poor leadership practices and values. Instead, leaders should

stress the importance of consideration, caring and loyalty. Stressing the

importance of the values produces positive results, such as higher

degree of employer motivation and morale. This is in return may result

in more effective organizations.

In “The Managerial Grid”, authors Blake and Mounton (1964)

identified five styles of leadership. These are the Task Management,

38
Country Club Management, Impoverished Management, Middle of the

Road Management and Team Management.

The “task management” supervisor/leader is concerned with

achieving production goals by planning, directing, and controlling

subordinates’ work, whereas the “country club” management A style

stresses the importance of good employee relations. On the other hand,

the “impoverished management” supervisor/leader attempts to

maintain organizational membership, while the “middle of the road”

managers attempt to maintain both good employee relations and

production. The “team manager” maintains a high degree of production

through integration of tasks with subordinates’ input and decision

participation.

Of these five management styles, team management is considered

to be the most effective. Leaders with this style of management are able

to build effective teams, solve problems, resolve conflicts and encourage

employee development.

In many police organizations, especially poorly managed

departments, the leadership philosophy is to control the officers rather

than encourage team building. Leaders within the police department

must therefore shift their emphasis from subordinate team building

and they must involve officers regardless of rank at every level of

decision making.

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 Sound leadership knowledge and practices are critical without a

sound administration. One of the major problems of any organization

like the PNP in the implementation programs and projects in operating

and implementing them is not only financial constraints, but also

administrative capability. This is because most of the leaders have no

management experiences or have only limited exposure to management

that this may affect their good intentions to run very well their

respective departments.

With the evolution of public administration, various definition of

administrative capability emphasized the refocusing of interest of the

different advocates of each period. For Traditional Public

Administration (TPA), administrative capability was viewed as the

ability to implement or execute policy externally formulated by political

processes efficiently. New Public Administration (NPA), viewed

administrative capability as the “ability to formulate policies that

enhance social equity” (Catilo, 1984).

Kerzner (1989) gave emphasis that administrative skills are

essential in program/project management. Leaders have to delegate

administrative tasks to support groups. Kerzner also suggested helpful

tools for managers and leaders in the administration of programs such

as meeting, reporting, reviewing, budgeting and schedule controls.

Hoy and Miskel (1991) also stated that an administration must

possess skills that will make him forward to meet the expectations of

40
society. As PNP personnel, technical and necessary knowledge are

required for the position to perform the designated tasks well. A police

must be skilled in human relations to enable him to understand the

people he promised to serve and to get the best out of them.

Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

Materials

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 A questionnaire will be used in this study, which served as the

main data-gathering tool.

Research Design

Descriptive research design will be utilized since this study is

concerned with the Community Oriented Policing System (COPS) in the

Province of La Union PPO.

The questionnaire included the respondents’ socio-demographic

information like sex, age, gender, education and training. Likewise,

Frequency counts, percentage and rank will be used to describe the

personal profile. The responses will be tallied, interpreted and were

analyzed in terms of frequency counts, weighted mean, and Chi Square

will be used to the significance of Community-Oriented Policing System

in the effectiveness of La Union PPO in crime prevention.

Population and Sample

In this study, all city and municipality of the Province of La Union

is being considered.

Total enumeration of the population was employed. There are

twenty (20) police stations in the Province which is composed of one (1)

city police station and nineteen (19) municipal police stations.

Instrumentation and Data Gathering

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 The respondents will be questionnaires to answer. The

questionnaire consists of two parts:

The first part is the personal profile of the respondents which

consists specifically of the name, age, sex, educational attainment, civil

status, and training/seminars.

The second part is the perception on the implementation of

Community-Oriented Policing System (COPS) Program in the community

of La Union Police Provincial Office.

Data Analysis

Frequency counts and percentages were used to present the personal

profile of the respondents.

1. Formula for percentage

P= f

Where p = percentage

f = frequency

n = total number of respondents

Average weighted mean was used to present the level of awareness of the

community in the municipality and the province of La Union.

2. formula for the average weighted mean

AWM = TWN

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Where AMW = average weighted mean

TWM = total weighted mean

3. Chi-square (χ2). It was used to determine the significance of

Community-Oriented Policing System in the effectiveness of La Union

PPO in crime prevention.

44