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NCRPO, mall officials meet to enhance security of commercial establishments

By Gina Peralta-Elorde

10/22/2009

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Roberto Rosales yesterday met with mall security managers and other concerned officials of different commercial establishments in Metro Manila at a Security Symposium held at the Market Market Mall, The Fort, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

The NCRPO-hosted event was attended by around 240 participants. During the meeting, Rosales committed to provide timely intelligence information to security officials on any possible threat that may affect the concerned mall or business establishment.

He also directed the police district directors to double the number of beat and mobile patrol around malls to enhance police visibility and thereby harden the establishment from being a target of robbery and other criminal groups.

Rosales appealed to the attendees to help and contribute to the drafting of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in handling crime incidents inside commercial establishments, particularly inside malls.

He said actions of security guards, as well as their coordination with the local police, be specified in templates from simple theft and robbery cases to high-profile crimes such as armed robbery, shooting incident, or hostage taking.

At the briefing conducted by NCRPO, through the chief of the Regional Intelligence Division, Senior Supt. Billy Beltran, the different modus operandi of robbery groups that have perpetrated recent and past atrocities were presented.

Beltran emphasized the lessons learned by the police during the analysis of the robbery incidents, especially those that were recorded by closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

He said based on the findings of NCRPO, some operational and technical solutions can be used. He cited the use of alarm system, monitoring and communication equipment.

The symposium has opened the floor for mall security managers to share their own experiences in preventing their establishments from being victimized by criminals. Majority of the participants agreed that there is a need to further improve coordination.

They concurred with the recommendations to establish Strong Points/Zones and the conduct of regular Simulation Exercise or Security Drill to be jointly carried out by private security guards and the police.

Rosales said these exercises could be done before the opening or after the closing of the mall or any commercial establishments so as not to disrupt the normal business activities.

He vowed to have the consensus reached during the symposium formalized and approved at the level of the National Headquarters through the PNP Civil Security Group (CSG) within a week.

A participant representing one of the biggest malls and hotel chains in the country said the issuance of the policy at the national level will facilitate the immediate and uniform implementation of the policy among security providers and its acceptance by the public.