STA. CRUZ, Laguna — Laguna police visited the Taytay-Malaya Elementary School in Barangay Taytay in Nagcarlan town on Thursday and spoke about crime prevention before 250 students.
Laguna police director, Senior Supt. Kirby John Brion Kraft, said they have been visiting schools and lecture on crime prevention, with focus on theft, robbery and rape, as well as the ill effects of drug abuse, in observance of the 24th National Crime Prevention Week (NCPW) on Sept. 1-7.
“All 30 police stations in towns and cities and two mobile force companies in the province are intensifying the conduct of activities that promote awareness on the shared responsibility on safety and well-being among constituents,” Kraft said in his directive to all police units.
The conduct of police community relations activities, in coordination with the National Police Commission (Napolcom), reflects this year’s theme, “Mamamayang Sama-Samang Makialam Upang Krimen at Korapsyon ay Hadlangan”, Kraft said.
He said Nagcarlan police personnel have conducted lectures on crime prevention as “one of the bold steps in school-based crime prevention.”
“Schools have great potential as focus for crime prevention as they provide regular access to students throughout the developmental years, and perhaps the only consistent access to large numbers of the most crime-prone young children in the early school years,” Kraft said.
He said all government agencies and instrumentalities have been enjoined to evolve and implement projects and activities that focus on prevention as an approach in combating criminality.
Among the activities is the adoption of the Community and Service-Oriented Policing (CSOP) system by strengthening the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) partnership with local government units (LGUs) from the provincial to the barangay level, including non-government organizations (NGOs), for the effective delivery of basic services to the people, especially on peace and order.
“The adoption of the CSOP system prescribed by the National Police Commission aims to ensure the establishment of a collaborative and cooperative mechanism between the local executives, police, and community,” Kraft said.
Meanwhile, chief of the Laguna police public information office, Supt. Vincent Cueto Templo, said the week-long observance included the distribution of flyers to constituents, and the posting of Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials on police stations’ social media accounts.
Templo said apart from the school lectures, they have also increased foot and mobile patrols, and boosted police presence in strategic areas.
“Police also conduct dialogues to assess the peace and order and public safety in their respective areas of responsibility,” he added.
Presidential Proclamation No. 461, dated Aug. 31, 1994, has declared every first week of September as National Crime Prevention Week. (Saul Pa-a/PNA)
