Quezon city: The Philippine National Police (PNP) is considering the procurement of non-lethal equipment for responding officers to prevent deadly encounters with suspects. At a press briefing in Camp Crame in Quezon City on Monday, PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III said among the non-lethal weapons being considered are plastic batons, pepper spray, and tasers. “The matter is under consideration and deep study,” he said.
According to Philippines News Agency, a police officer fatally shot a man who was running amuck while wielding a knife in Pavia, Iloilo on Aug. 1. The PNP chief earlier issued a directive for police officers to prioritize non-deadly means of responding to criminal incidents. Torre said the Pavia officer, though under investigation, is being given the “benefit of the doubt.” “Mas gusto namin bigyan siya ng benefit of the doubt dahil siya talaga ang nando’n, kaya suportado namin siya hanggang sa ngayon, sa paggamit ng baril sa okasyon na ‘yon. Suportado namin ang pulis sa kanyang ginawa (We want to give him the benefit of the doubt because he was the one on the ground. So we support his action up to now, we support what he did) unless there’s evidence of grave irregularity,” he said.
Torre emphasized that police officers are trained in unarmed combat, disarming techniques, and other non-lethal intervention methods. During the same press briefing, Torre reported that the PNP seized smuggled goods worth PHP13 million and arrested 36 persons during operations from July 25 to Aug. 1. In the same period, officers seized PHP34.5 million worth of illegal drugs in 1,065 anti-drug operations that resulted in the arrest of 976 drug suspects.
In cyber prevention and enforcement, Torre said the PNP conducted 344 cyber patrolling activities that resulted in the arrest of 21 persons, most of them during entrapment operations, while four minors were rescued. There were also 23 cases filed. “Tatlo katao na napatunayang guilty sa kasong cybercrime, nakakapagpatupad din tayo ng 19 cybercrime warrant na nagbibigay daan upang mahuka ang mahalagang datos mula sa computer systems na may kaugnayan sa mga kasong iimbestigahan (Three people were found guilty for cybercrime. We also executed 19 cybercrime warrants that allowed us to extract important data from computer systems related to the cases being investigated),” he said.
Torre said the PNP arrested 1,183 wanted persons, including 333 most wanted persons and 855 other wanted persons nationwide.
