Credibility among police anti-narcotics operatives should be of utmost importance.
That’s why all police officers assigned in anti-illegal drug units must strictly adhere to existing policies and guidelines.
To ensure this, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) announced that all 1,205 personnel assigned to regional, provincial, city, and station drug enforcement units will undergo vetting.
The move complies with the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s counter-intelligence process.
Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief, explained that the vetting process is important to re-evaluate and reassess the status of the personnel assigned at the drug enforcement units.
Of the 1,205 personnel, 1,176 are assigned to the provincial and city drug enforcement units and stations drug enforcement teams (SDETs),
The remaining 29 personnel are with the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 6.
Pamuspusan said these officers have already undergone the stringent vetting process before their assignment to the DEUs through the community vetting where their names were published outside police stations for the scrutiny of the community.
A crucial part of the vetting procedure is for the personnel to also undergo drug testing.
Before they are assigned to the DEUs, personnel must be certified to have no involvement in any illegal drug activity and have no derogatory records.
“The vetting process must also ensure that the personnel are physically, morally, and mentally fit to be part of the DEUs,” Pamuspusan said.
To maintain the integrity of the DEU personnel, the region’s top cop ordered the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) to conduct internal vetting.
This will be conducted by the counter-intelligence teams who were deployed to strictly monitor and validate the performance and other activities of the DEUs.
Personnel who will fail in the evaluation will be relieved from the DEUs.
“As we sustain the momentum in our fight against illegal drugs, we have to make sure that our personnel are clean and morally upright in performing their duties in the DEUs,” Pamuspusan said.
Further, PRO-6 will also conduct a 3-day refresher course for the 216 personnel assigned with the different DEUs. It will start on September 28.
The training package includes topics such as Target Acquisition and Building Up; Conduct of Operation; Evidence Handling; Crime Laboratory Protocols; Report Writing;
Latest Jurisprudence on RA 9165; and Case Filing, among others. The participants will also receive the latest updates and lessons learned from drug operations which are all essential in their performance of duty as members of the DEUs.
“Placing the right person at the right job is important in the accomplishment of our mission” RD Pamuspusan said.
Training of personnel will not only give them the knowledge they need but it will guarantee the success of our operations especially now that we are pushing harder in our anti-illegal drug operations, he added.
Pamuspusan said that PRO-6’s fight against illegal drugs continues under its new Strategic Direction, “Stronger PRO6: Sustaining the Gains in Reformation.”
The conduct of training is under the human resource reformation while the vetting falls under internal cleansing. (Jennifer Rendon via The Daily Guardian (TDG), photo by TDG)