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Refocusing the Police Role - From Traditional law Enforcement to Crime Prevention

NCJ Number
74224
Journal
Criminal Justice Journal Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (Second Quarter 1980) Pages: 4-7
Author(s)
J M Crisol
Date Published
1980
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article appeals for a stronger police commitment to crime prevention in the Philippines.
Abstract
Crime prevention should precede all other police functions in importance. This role is well suited to police agencies as organizations for social control. No other government employees are better situated to observe the conditions associated with crime in any given community and to represent the citizens in efforts to secure needed services. Police crime prevention is a task specifically mandated by law in Section 2, P.D. 765, and reiterated in Section 2, Rule I of the Rules and Regulations Governing the Integrated National Police. The traditional police function of law enforcement is employed only as a last resort where crime prevention measures have failed. Crime prevention can be facilitated through effective police-community relations. To this end, Police Advisory Councils have been established for the involvement of civic representatives in the preservation of public safety. However, the councils will not be able to fulfill their goals until police attitudes have improved. Officers must participate as leaders in community activities through meaningful community problemsolving dialogues with the barangays (villages), sociocivic organizations, schools, churches, and public and private institutions. The national police organization should be oriented towards prevention, and procedures should be established which would guarantee the observance of prevention policies. A reference list is not included.