CCTVs to be installed at Metro Manila police stations by January 2015

By ROUCHELLE R. DINGLASAN, GMA News

Published November 28, 2014 6:02am

To curb police abuse, three closed-circuit televisions will be installed at every police station of Metro Manila by January 2015, Interior Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II said Wednesday during a visit to the GMA Network Center.

The program to install CCTV cameras in five district headquarters and 28 police stations stations is already at the procurement stage, Roxas said.

The CCTVs will be installed facing the front desk, general area of the police station, and immediate vicinity outside the police station.

The government has allocated P4.9 million for purchase of the CCTV systems, Rojas said

Aside from CCTVs in police stations, 100 high resolution cameras will also be installed at 38 crime-prone areas including jeepney terminals, busy intersections, and wet and dry markets among others.

The high-res CCTV cameras will be installed by February next year.

According to Deputy Chief PNP for Administration, Police Dep. Dir. Gen. Felipe Rojas Jr., the PNP chose to install CCTVs to monitor how the policemen treat complainants.

"If you remember, 'yung hulidap sa EDSA ng mga La Loma policemen. 'Yung biktima dinala pa nila sa police station nila. If we had camera during that time, it would make the case stronger against the policemen," he explained.

'Hulidap' refers to an extortion plot where the policemen accuse a victim of a trumped-up charges, then, eventually ask for money to drop the non-existent charge. An incident of hulidap was exposed last September after a photo of armed men toting guns to a private vehicle along EDSA went viral on social media networks.

Hulidap policemen face summary hearings

National Capital Region Police Office director, Sr. Supt. Carmelo Valmoria, disclosed that the police officers implicated in the hulidap case are now facing administrative charges.

Internal affairs summary hearings on the case underway, Valmoria said.

On the criminal aspect, the policemen, who face carges of robbery in band and kidnapping for ransom, are undergoing preliminary investigation by the Mandaluyong Prosecutor's Office.

Other projects

Aside from the new CCTV cameras, the DILG will also unveil a new emergency hotline in the middle of 2015.

The emergency hotline - 118 - will be available nationwide. It will be for police, medical, and fire incidents.

PNP precincts in Metro Manila will be equipped with a crime registry database by March next year.

All the blotters will be automatically input to the PNP database. The complainants will have a printed copy of their complaints bearing the name and contact number of the investigator assigned to the case.

In 2015, the PNP will also acquire 1,021 patrol jeeps, 5,771 firearms, and 52,271 radios. — ELR, GMA News

Tags: policestations