POLICE PATROL OPERATION

PART 1
ORIGIN OF THE WORD POLICE AND PATROL
POLICE
 The word POLICE was derived from Greek word POLIS which means
“city-state”.
 Another Greek word POLITEIA which means “government of the city”.
 The Roman changed the word slightly to POLITIA which means
“condition of the state or government”.
 The French changed the word to “Police” which means person who
enforced the law and it was later adopted by the English Language.

PATROL
 The word PATROL was derived from the French word “PATROUILLER”
which means to go through paddles; to travel on foot.

POLICE PATROL
 One or more police officer making round in order to guard or inspect
property and to protect lives within a designated area.

I. OVERVIEW OF PATROL WORK

 Patrol is the innovator of police department in crime prevention.
 Patrol force serves as the nucleus of police department.
 Police Patrol is the basic law enforcement method.
 Patrol work will become interesting when officer makes an intelligent
effort to discover and solve problems.
 Careful patrol by intelligent officer is the first line of defense against
crime.
 Patrol work deals basically with people.
 The action taken by the patrol officers have a direct impact on the
community and well being.

II. THE IMPORTANCE AND OBJECTIVES OF POLICE PATROL

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 The objectives of the Patrol force are identical as those of a police
organization cautious patrol by smart Patrol officers is considered as the first
line of defense against crime and comprises its largest unit in the
organization. The action of Patrol officers strongly and visibly serves
influences the public’s attitude toward the excellence and sufficiency of
management services.

A. THE IMPORTANCE OF POLICE PATROL

1. Patrol force as the essence of Police function
 It is the soul or spirit of Police organization.
 The patrol function is the most visible form of police activity and directly
attempts to eliminate the opportunity to commit crime.
 The Patrol force is the “ears and eyes” of the Police Organization.

2. The Patrol force as the backbone of the Police Organization

 It is the most important of all police functions.
 It is the only division that cannot be eliminated.
 They are considered as the Prime mover of the organization other units
of Police Organization participate only in a supportive capacity.
 The actions taken by the Patrol officers are reflected to the Police
Organization

3. Patrol force as the operational heart of Police Organization

 Almost all police function had been vested to the patrol division.
 Patrol has the direct contact with the society, and is responsible for its
primary objectives.
 The patrol division is often the only one to work on a twenty-four hour
basis.
 The Patrol force incorporates all objectives inherent in the police
organization

B. FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVE S OF POLICE PATROL

1. Crime Prevention and Suppression

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  It is the Primary goal of the Patrol officer since they are the one who has
direct contact with the society.
 Patrol officer are accountable for preventing or reducing crime
commission.

2. Law Enforcement
 Patrol force has the utmost responsibility because of the nature of their
duties and responsibilities.
 The law must be enforced neutrally and with full recognition of the intent
and purposes.
 Preventive Enforcement - involves the prevention of crime through
the noticeable presence of police vehicles and personnel. Sir Robert
Peel first presented preventive enforcement as a criminological
philosophy. And this had been regarded as the soundest of all
criminological theories. “It is much easier to patch a crack in the dike
than to repair the wall after it has broken an ounce of prevention being
worth a pound of cure”.
 Selective Enforcement - It is proven to be a very effective technique
in the patrol procedure. If a certain area is subject to a high crime rate,
the patrol cars spend a greater part of their patrolling time in that area.
 Traffic Enforcement - Large police departments have traffic divisions,
but the majorities of the departments are small, and have only patrol
division to handle traffic enforcement.

3. Preservation of peace and order

 It is the fundamental obligation of the Police and it is the most important
function performed by the patrol service
 It must be recognize as an alternative to law enforcement.

4. Crime Investigation
 Most of the Patrol officer’s doesn’t possess necessary qualifications or
skills to thoroughly investigate crimes
 They play only a minor role in investigation nevertheless it is still one of
its objectives for the reason that they are the first responder. They
conduct only brief, report taking of investigations.
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5. Emergency call for Service
 One of the duties and purposes of patrol is the handling of emergency
calls for service.
 The police vehicle had been equipped as an emergency vehicle, and
special laws had been passed exempting the police officer from the
normal rules of the road when responding to an emergency.
 Handling of emergency calls for service is one of the basic duties of the
patrol officer; he should be trained in first aid and water life-saving
emergencies.

6. Police Service
 This are the benevolent services performed by the Patrol officers like
mediate in family quarrels, render first aid for accident victims,
Dispersion of unlawful assemblies and get relief assistance to disaster
victims.

III. CLASSES OF PATROL ACTIVITIES

 “Called – for” service – Incidents, requiring immediate police action.
 Inspectional service – tending to reduce criminal opportunity and
accidents.
 Routine patrol – directed at less tangible hazards, such as poor lighted
areas, business section etc.

IV. FACTORS AFFECTING PATROL OPERATIONS

A. PATROL DEPLOYMENT
 It may have an effect on Patrol operation since some patrol officers have
different variation of moving on to specific factors
 Some of these are size and shape of their AOR, modes of transportation,
problems they might encountered on the beat and level of trust and
confidence of the people to the police, location and number of crimes and
arrest.
 Police personnel allotted for Patrol Function – 50%
 Manning Level of Patrol force – Sec. 27 of R.A. 6975 provides (police-to-
population ratio)

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  1:500 – nationwide average
 1:1000 – minimum police-to-population ratio
FACTORS AFFECTING EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE DISTRIBUTION OF
PATROL FORCES
1. Chronological Distribution – It involves consideration of the nature and
causes of crimes. They should familiarize how crimes are committed, when
and who committed them.
 Crime Clock – It signifies what time crime is often or frequently
committed.
 Crime Map – Location or place or crime prone areas wherein crime is
frequently or often committed.

2. Geographical Distribution – It involves weighing categories of incidents

and accounting the number of identifiable hazards and street mileage.

3. Walking beats – it involved determining man hours needed to cover the

streets and alleys to inspect the police hazards prevails within the AOR.

4. Motor Patrol Distribution-involves determining the need to shift motor

patrol units hour – by – hour at the area according to where and when crime
mostly likely to occur.

B. POST ASSIGNMENT

1. Regular Post- assigning members to its regular or usual post usually

based on seniority.

ADVANTAGES OF REGULAR POSTS

 Patrol officer becomes thoroughly familiar with the various post
conditions.
 Patrol officer takes more pride and interest in improving the conditions
on his post resulting in better public relations and cooperation from the
residents.
 The patrol officer moral is enhanced, since a steady post is an indication
of public acceptance of his work.

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DISADVANTAGES OF REGULAR POSTS
 The patrol officer may turn the assignment into a routine detail and may
take it too much for granted.
 Familiarity with the residents may breed contempt or favoritism in the
form of gratuities.

2. Shift/Post Rotation – It is the process of assigning members of Patrol

force from post to post.

ADVANTAGES OF POST ROTATION

 The patrol officer becomes acquainted with general precint/station
problems when shifted from post to post.
 Such assignments require more observation, alertness and vigilance on
the part of the patrol officer since he is not familiar with the new layout.
 Routine patrol or fixed habits are less likely to be adopted in the new
environment which will result in more rigid enforcement.
 Favoritism will be lessened because of transitory assignments.
 Rotation expands on the officer’s experience thereby enabling him to
handle varied emergencies.

DISADVANTAGES OF POST ROTATION

 It destroys any chance of specialization in the handling of individual post
problems.
 It creates a tendency of leaving the unpleasant chores to the next man.
 It makes it difficult to cultivate sources of information as to criminal
activities.
 It creates irregular living habits in the officer, to the detriment of his
health.
 It can have a bad effect on the family because of the frequently
changing of shifts/post.

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