QC cops go high-tech

Thanks to the efforts of Quezon City Police District (QCPD) chief Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula, the whole of Camp Karingal may soon become a “wi-fi zone.”

According to Gatdula, the main building of the camp located in Barangay Sikatuan is already a “wi-fi zone” where anyone could connect to a wireless Internet network.

In a recent interview, Gatdula said there is a plan to make wi-fi zones of all the buildings at Camp Karingal and even the police stations all over the city.

“We intend to do that, because we want to make all our communications paperless,” the QCPD chief said.

He also cited that even the daily journal of all the police reports are now transmitted via e-mail.

QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) chief, Superintendent Franklin Moises Mabanag, said this has helped them have faster coordination among all the units of the QCPD.

“Printed reports take additional time. If you could limit the time of transmission, it would be much better,” he said.

Just recently, Gatdula also distributed more than 50 wireless landline telephones to all the section heads and station commanders of the QCPD.

The units, worth a total of P155,000, were given out to facilitate faster communication among key officials of the QCPD.

Gatdula also said these wireless phones would also allow the police officials to save on cellular phone bills.

According to Gatdula, all these are part of the “transformation program” of the leadership of the Philippine National Police, though the QCPD is no longer waiting for funding from Camp Crame.

Gatdula said these changes at Camp Karingal will be shouldered by funds under his operating expenses and with the help of the local government.

Gatdula said Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has expressed support for these projects.

One of the things Gatdula said is already in the pipeline is an “investigation van” with different gadgets and equipment for the QCPD-CIDU.

“With this investigation van, for example, investigators would no longer need to bring a witness to Camp Karingal to get his statement and gather other information. The data gathering could already be done there at the crime scene,” he explained.

Gatdula also revealed that a crime laboratory would also be built right beside the CIDU building at Camp Karingal. Currently, his men still bring evidence for autopsy and other laboratory work to the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame.

The QCPD chief is also eyeing the installation of close-circuit television cameras at 50 “important areas” in the city to help the QCPD prevent street crimes, which cost cost around P50 million.

Gatdula said they intend to provide the QCPD’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team with more state-of-the-art firearms to improve its capability. – Reinir Padua