Truly troubled by the traffic related incidents that bloat the monthly total crime volume in Bohol, PSSupt Dennis Agustin is dedicating some newly polished police officers to augment traffic enforcers.
Of the 660 crime incidents in January 2016, PSSupt Agustin showed that 206 cases or about 31% of these crimes involved traffic or are traffic related.
The same pattern of traffic related incidents eating up a huge portion of the crime pie has been recurring trend in Bohol, alarming Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) members.
Five or 83% of the six homicide cases in Bohol in January were related to traffic, Col Agustin pointed out in his crime update presentation for peace council members.
Moreover, 70 % of the 181 cases of physical injuries recorded within the month are traffic related incidents as against the 55 cases of physical injuries that did not involve traffic, he pointed out.
For this, and in the dire need to impact on the regulation of drivers and vehicles which have been illegally operating in Bohol streets and highways, Camp Dagohoy said they would be fielding in shifts the new police officers downloaded to Bohol.
“We are putting the 60 new police officers downloaded from the region to man the streets, working in three shifts,” PSSupt Agustin shared.
Earlier, Governor Edgar Chatto asked Land Transportation Office Registrar Erwin Patalinghug about the status of the police deputation, of which the LTO has stopped yet since December.
The LTO has been working with the Philippine National Police to help enforce traffic laws, but police have to be officially deputized to do such tasks.
LTO Patalinghug added that the LTO regional Office has already signed new deputation orders to traffic police enforcers, these are then endorsed through the provincial police offices.
More than that, Bohol police chief said he is organizing a force multiplier by networking with motorcycle enthusiasts who would be part of the Brotherhood on the Road; these men would help police enforce, educate and disseminate pertinent information, vehicle safety and other inter-motorcycle enthusiasts concerns.
The ultimate motive is to get the help from everybody in keeping our roads safer and our drivers conscious of their roles, a traffic police from the highway patrol group added. (rac/PIA-7/Bohol)