No more nose-picking, crotch-scratching for NCRPO cops

MANILA, Philippines - Police officers who like to pick their nose and scratch their crotch in public had better watch out – Metro Manila’s new police chief wants police officers under the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) to observe proper decorum.

“We don’t want policemen scratching different parts of their body and scratching their noses while in public and in uniform,” Chief Superintendent Marcelo Garbo Jr. said yesterday when he visited the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) headquarters at Camp Karingal.

He said these behaviors make policemen look undignified.

“I will strictly focus on (the) proper decorum (of policemen). Definitely I will be hard on this,” Garbo said.

The new NCRPO director said he had given this directive as early as when he held his first command briefing last week.

Having been an intelligence operative for years, Garbo said he will use counter-intelligence measures to identify policemen misbehaving in public.

Another thing he mentioned was that police officer should wear their uniform properly, and this includes using caps while outdoors.

Garbo commended QCPD director Chief Superintendent Richard Albano and deputy director Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao for the office environment at the headquarters, saying it was the “benchmark” that other police districts in Metro Manila should emulate.

Garbo said one of the things he would focus on is cracking down on illegal gambling. He said part of the marching orders that Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II gave him was to stop illegal gambling in the metropolis.