DCPO bags National Best City Police Office

Amid the health emergency triggered by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) remains committed to its mandate of serving and protecting Dabawenyos.

This was manifested by DCPO’s bagging of the National Best City Police Office award for the year 2020, which was given during the 120th Police Service Anniversary.

DCPO director Colonel Kirby John Kraft, in an interview on Tuesday, September 7, attributed the recognition to the collective effort of the police force and other law enforcement agencies, as well as their strong partnership with the local government unit.

“Ang dedication and commitment ng mga Davao City policemen na mapanatili na safe ang Davao City (ang isa sa mga factors). Kasi no matter how good, how great your programs and plans are, kung hindi magfa-function properly ang mga rank and file personnel, hindi po natin ma-aabot ang Best City Police Office nationwide,” Kraft said.

He likewise thanked Dabawenyos for their active support that inspired them to do their job. With the implementation of safety precautionary measures spawned by the pandemic, he said that they tailored their approach in their enforcement operations to ensure that the minimum health protocol is observed in all their operations.

“Na-rerecognize ‘yong ating ginagawang trabaho, yong mga effort sa COVID-19 response. Ang primary task natin – maintenance of peace and order, enforcement of laws. Na-recognize at nabigyan ito ng pansin ng headquarters. Ibig sabihin po nagta-trabaho tayo dito sa Davao City,” the DCPO chief said.

He added that the DCPO is continuously strengthening its police visibility by implementing the maximum deployment of its personnel in different areas of the city as part of its crime prevention campaign.

Kraft underscored that the DCPO supports Executive Order No. 41 “An order encouraging Dabawenyos to adopt the Culture of Security as part of their way of life” together with their counterpart – Task Force Davao (TFD). He also cited the public’s cooperation in the success of their police operations by providing them reports.

Meanwhile, Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte, on August 9 over the Davao City Disaster Radio, commended the DCPO and Kraft for the recognition – as well as the different stakeholders involved in peacekeeping.

“We would like to congratulate Davao City Police Office (DCPO) for being adjudged as the Best City Police Office for the year 2020 during the 120th Police Service Anniversary,” Duterte said.

She added, “Congratulations to our City Director Kirby Kraft and all our Station Commanders and our uniformed and non-uniformed personnel of DCPO, as well as our force multipliers or our police auxiliaries. Congratulations sa inyong tanan.”

Kraft further vowed to keep their heightened security measures and law enforcement operations while also assisting the government in its fight against the unseen enemy – COVID-19.

“Ang trabaho talaga ng DCPO is maintainance of peace and order at law enforcement. Ngayong pumasok tayo sa pandemic, nadagdagan ang trabaho ng police at isa ito sa naging challenge lalong lalo na ang tinatawag natin na minimum public health standard. Ang pag-enforce nito ay isang challenge kasi ngayon lang natin ito naranasan ito,” he said.

During this pandemic, Kraft said that they initiated activities to help the local government cut the infection, especially by setting up lockdown and quarantine points to apprehend potential violators. 

They have also dedicated teams for contact tracing and assigned their 32 nurses to the City Health Office (CHO) to help in the swabbing efforts. He also said that they have put up their vaccination site inside their headquarters to vaccinate policemen.CIO