The new Philippine National Police chief, Lieutenant General Nicolas Torre III, announced plans to dismantle police community precincts (PCPs), calling them ineffective and redundant. He said police officers should instead be on the streets, actively preventing and responding to crime.

At a Palace briefing on Wednesday, Torre said the move aligns with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to improve the visibility and responsiveness of the police force.

“We will close them because they only serve as police hangouts. Nothing happens there — there’s no equipment, and even reports submitted to PCPs are just forwarded to the headquarters. There are redundancies,” Torre said in Filipino. “Rather than being a hangout, we’ll order their closure.”

5-minute response

Torre encouraged the public to contact police through mobile phones rather than visiting precincts. He said response times could be as fast as five minutes when citizens call 911.

“Don’t look for police in the precincts — they are already on your phones,” he said. “Dial 911, and they will come. We will come within five minutes.”

The dismantling of PCPs will first be implemented in Metro Manila during Torre’s first month in office. He introduced a similar policy when he was director of the Quezon City Police District.

Torre also announced a shift from the previous 12-hour duty to an 8-hour daily shift, reducing weekly work hours from 72 to 40 hours. He said the change is meant to improve the physical and mental well-being of police officers.

“Police are also human. I don’t want to see them sleeping inside stations,” Torre said.

Earlier, the PNP reported an 18.4% drop in the nationwide crime rate between January 12 and March 22 this year.