The new overall police commander, General Alan Purisima, must look into what is going on regarding wholesale killings of suspected criminals in encounters with the police.

It has become uneasy reading to see carnappers, kidnappers, common thieves and other suspects gunned down to the last man, explained away as criminals about to commit a crime or having committed a crime to justify what happened. Unfortunately, with the complete cast of characters from the so-called criminal side dead as is a frequent occurrence, there is no one to refute the police version which as of now is becoming more and more suspect because of repetition.

The latest is the Atimonan encounter between law enforcement agents on one side and law enforcement agents with civilians on the other. The former with one grievously wounded person managed to kill 13 others from the other side. What does not seem right is how lopsided the fight was. Granted being in vehicles would be at a disadvantage which would have occurred to those in them, could not some have been called to surrender? If it were true that they were guns for hire, were they on a particular mission with a target at hand as per Intelligence reports? Or, is this just a guess?

One other embellishment to the above was that they were transporting a huge amount of cash, proceeds of jueteng, euphemistically called Small Town Lottery receipts. Yet there is no sign of any sizeable cash from the scene. Was it never there or did it disappear?

But let us leave that and move on to what exactly are the terms of engagement by police with criminals as suspects, about to commit a crime or having recently committed a crime? Is the use of force in terminal terms or as the James Bond movies put it “with extreme prejudice” mandated? This should be clarified and the terms of engagement spelled out not only for the police but for the public. The latter must be informed enough to make a judgment or demand explanations of things that seem amiss.

This is supposed to be a civilized society with the rule of law. Criminals even if caught in the act should as much as possible be captured alive in order to stand trial. Everyone even criminal elements must be presumed innocent and go through a trial according to our Constitution with particular observance of human rights and fair judicial processes.

It is not my intention to side with criminals and make the police look suspicious but it is indeed time to call attention to the unmitigated killings of even petty thieves and mere suspects, hich seems to be the trend.

The Philippine National Police must raise the bar for terms of engagement in matters of fairness and avoidance of undue force. They must also look into crime prevention with more patrols, vigilance and better quality Intelligence work. Moreover, they must be alert for any summons of help by the public, individual or community. Slow response like in the case of the Kawit massacre which lasted more than an hour and if true, whose culprit was already reported to the police the night before for firing indiscriminately,is a disservice to the public that is supposed to be protected, assisted and defended from criminality.

There is a police academy which should train police personnel not only in law enforcement but law enforcement according to constitutional rights. The police are to prevent crime, stop crime and arrest criminals who have done their evil deeds. A whole education is demanded which covers not only technical aspects of arrest, crime solution and apprehension of criminals but more important, of public service, dedication to democratic principles and human rights and the judicial process. Taxpayers’ money to maintain the police academy demands service to the public in the best, most lawful, and highly efficient ways.

Needless to say, police personnel must always be seen to be aboveboard in dealing with the public. They must not take sides with criminals, gambling activities, or, moonlighting as security guards, sometimes to unlawful activities, and unsavory characters. They must be on the public’s side, not the opposite side.

It is to be hoped that law enforcement be meticulous and that law enforcers beyond suspicion at all times.

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