NCRPO chief reminds cops: No drinking, sleeping on duty

MANILA, Philippines — National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Camilo Cascolan reminded police officers yesterday that drinking and sleeping while on duty is prohibited.

The newly installed NCRPO chief, who had been conducting surprise inspections of police stations in Metro Manila during the past few days, said he did not catch any police officer violating his directive against drinking liquor.

“The policemen were on high alert during my inspections. Nobody was caught drinking liquor or sleeping on the job,” he said, noting that he has visited the police stations of Pasay, Taguig and Batasan in Quezon City.

His predecessor, now Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde, fired three city police chiefs after he caught their personnel sleeping and drinking while on night duty.

Cascolan also said he is banning police officers, especially those assigned to the night shift, from sleeping while on duty.

“We should not be sleeping while on duty. We should instead be on the streets patrolling as the community needs us,” he said.

However, those who are off-duty are allowed to sleep in the police station, Cascolan said.

“We have many policemen who are either living in far away places or have no houses at all in Metro Manila so we allow them to sleep in police headquarters. So let us know the amenities in police stations so they could sleep comfortably after their duty hours,” Cascolan said.

He said he is also inspecting police stations’ detention facilities as the heat leads to dehydration and various illnesses among detainees.