DavOr Police equips students with crime prevention skills

DAVAO ORIENTAL—A massive awareness campaign against criminality is being advocated by the Davao Oriental Provincial Police Office (DOPPO) focusing on the schoolchildren who are among the most vulnerable group to criminal incidents. In a media forum called Kapihan sang Kapitolyo on 6 Sept 2017 at the new Tourism Activity Center, Police Chief Inspector Ariel F. Nuevo, DOPPO Police Community Relations Officer, said that schools from the province have participated in the anti-criminality campaign since the advocacy kicked off on Sept. 1st. The advocacy is in observance of the National Crime Prevention Week which is observed every first week of September.

Created through a Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of Education (DepEd) and the National Police Commission (NaPolCom), the DOPPO personnel facilitated the organization of Student Crime Prevention Committee. This school organization will become a recognized school body that will be established not only in time for the observance of the National Crime Prevention Week but also as a strategy to prevent crime through formulation of crime prevention programs.

The DOPPO personnel also inspected the school’s own School Safety Plan and further initiated a dialogue with the different schools in cooperation with their line units to generate community awareness and appreciation of the importance of crime prevention. With the provincial government’s consistent effort to tone down the crime index in the province, other government agencies and law enforcement bodies have converged in implementing projects and activities that focus on combatting the eventuality of criminality. “Crime prevention will not succeed if the PNP and the community do not work together,” said DOPPO Provincial Director PSSUPT Harry G. Espela. With this year’s theme “Pamayanang Mapagmasid, Kapayapaan ang Maihahatid”, other activities such as public dialogues on crime prevention, seminar, and capacity building have been conducted through the collaborative partnership among the community, law enforcement agencies and local executives. (Riza Golez)