BPAT’s plays key role in crime prevention - Soria

By RPCRD, Police Regional Office 8
September 13, 2013

CAMP KANGLEON, Palo, Leyte – The Barangay Peacekeeping Action Teams (BPATs) have a key role to play in crime prevention, according to the top official of the Philippine National Police in Eastern Visayas.

Police Regional Office 8 (PRO8) director PCSupt. Elmer R. Soria said that the PNP, with its myriad and diverse tasks and functions that are so huge have been slow to respond due to its sheer weight and enormousness as compared to crime and criminality that have become so dynamic, inadvertive and fast.

“Time calls for the “creative dismemberment” of such PNP tasks and functions, the empowerment of the community to formulate and implement its unique policing practices, projects, programs, procedures and priorities,” said Soria.

“This creative dismemberment of PNP dinosaur spawned small Barangay Peacekeeping Action Teams which are trained, equipped and are fast, agile and responsive to the needs of the community and works at the ground level where crime operates,” the police official added.

He informed that the BPATs is based on the Barangay Peacekeeping Operations concept that is “a comprehensive, and catch-all anti-crime strategy that seeks to empower all stakeholders to share the responsibility of peacekeeping and order maintenance towards self-policing.”

“They are an effective tool in the effective prevention, control and suppression of crime and efficient management of disasters and emergencies and are valuable partners in the development of the community,” the region’s top cop said during Wednesday culmination program of the 19th National Crime Prevention Week at PRO8’s Matapat Hall.

The general concept of Barangay Peacekeeping is to involve the barangay officials, tanods, Civilian Volunteer Organizations, Barangay Auxiliaries, Non-Government Organizations and other People's Organization in the task of crime prevention, control and suppression in partnership with the PNP from the Provincial down to the Community Precincts level and the Local Government Executives and Heads of Concerned Agencies.

The BPATs, as the main actors, conducts community-based activities and information campaign in support of the PNP’s anti-criminality effort, internal security operation, and disaster management and control program.

Soria informed that 4,118 out of 4,390 or almost 94 percent of barangays in the region have organized BPATs wherein close to 30,000 participants were trained on the concept of BPAT that include lectures on law enforcement, disaster relief, conflict resolution and environmental protection.

“They are really of big help as force multiplier in maintaining the tranquil peace and order situation in the region,” the police official averred.