PNP, NYPD sign intel gathering, anti-crime accord

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) have signed a memorandum of understanding on intelligence gathering and trans-national anti-crime operations.

PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome and Lieutenant Gustavo Rodriguez of the NYPD signed the agreement at Camp Crame yesterday.

“This will greatly benefit the PNP. We always look forward to memorandum of understanding with other countries. There is an exchange of information. We share the same problems. These problems are not ours or theirs alone,” Bartolome said.

Transnational crimes include illegal drugs, terrorism, money laundering and bank crimes, fraud, arms smuggling, human trafficking, maritime fraud and cybercrime.

Bartolome also said that with the exchange of information between the PNP and the NYPD, capacity building on the part of the PNP in terms of training and technology transfer is expected to improve.

“Exchange of information usually results in capacity building,” he said, adding such partnership enhances regular training like those regularly held with police forces in the US and Australia.

“So there is nothing new. It is just that we want to enhance it some more and make it formal,” Bartolome said.

“We take another step forward in making sure that we leverage our crime fighting missions across the ocean that separates us and facilitate the horizontal police department to police department communications,” NYPD’s Rodriguez said. “We will collect information and disseminate it back to New York City,” he said without elaborating.