Nearly 90 percent of the 125,000 members of the Philippine National Police failed a firearms proficiency test, according to the National Police Commission. That story would be laughable if it did not have dire consequences for law enforcement. Cops who can’t shoot straight lose out to crooks who can. Cops who can’t shoot straight end up shooting dead both hostage taker and the hostage. Cops who can’t hit their targets end up hitting innocent civilians instead, as in the case of the policemen who shot and killed an overseas Filipino worker on vacation in Manila together with his daughter. Father and daughter had the misfortune of getting in the way of a running gun battle between cops and a gang of suspected criminals in southern Metro Manila. Those cops, who were legitimately pursuing suspected crooks, would have been spared from an ongoing investigation and their possible expulsion from the police force if they could use their firearms properly.
The reason for the poor proficiency in marksmanship in most cases is not due to stupidity or fear of guns, but logistical problems. The starting pay of cops is barely above the minimum wage, and studies have shown that there are PNP members living below the poverty line. Cops can practice marksmanship only if they have the ammunition for it. But the PNP ammo allocation per cop is sufficient chiefly for use when needed. Those who want to improve their shooting skills can do so only if they obtain their own ammunition. And bullets – even reloads – do not come cheap.PNP members who serve as politicians’ aides or bodyguards are usually the ones who manage to practice their marksmanship regularly. As informal members of virtual private armies, their skills are on tap not for the general public but for their political patrons. Other PNP members must make do with what they have, until the government decides to invest in upgrading the skills and equipment of law enforcers.
This is very sad. The fact that any civilized society has at least a crime committed, cops are imperative for its progress. However, if the PNP cannot provide marksmanship training and adequate bullets, what can we expect of our cops? They would be inefficient in their jobs and this inefficiency goes into a bad downtrend cycle. The top guns translate this inefficiency into bad performance rating. Unfortunately, it is only after a good performance rating that one goes up the salary rating scale. Some cops live in the poverty line and when their salary is not more than enough, we can expect these men in uniform to moonlight and even do the contrary. How many cops have we heard that were involved in criminal activities? There have been a lot and I think a lot will still be coming unless the government and PNP have to think faster of the reforms to be made. How many kutong cops have we heard too? There have been so many also. Why are these cops pushed to do something opposite of what they are supposed to do?
To be fair, there are still good cops out there. They are not only good in shooting targets, they have even risked lives to respond to calls of duty. How many cops have we heard being killed or hurt while responding to these calls? Although, there have only been a few, still life has been gallantly put at stake. How many families have we heard crying because they have lost their fathers in a crossfire which is more often dubbed by human right advocates as mere rubouts not ligitimate shootouts? Why are people so noisy when alleged criminals are shoot dead and do not even give a heck when good cops are mercilessly killed by these criminals? Have we grown so tired of the corruption that besieged our own police system? Questions, questions, questions. Unfortunately, there are no clear answers around the bend yet. Ours is as bad an eye sight as those nearly 90 perecent cops who failed in the firearms proficiency test. But at least I'm a shooter, never a dribbler. Huh!
The reason for the poor proficiency in marksmanship in most cases is not due to stupidity or fear of guns, but logistical problems. The starting pay of cops is barely above the minimum wage, and studies have shown that there are PNP members living below the poverty line. Cops can practice marksmanship only if they have the ammunition for it. But the PNP ammo allocation per cop is sufficient chiefly for use when needed. Those who want to improve their shooting skills can do so only if they obtain their own ammunition. And bullets – even reloads – do not come cheap.PNP members who serve as politicians’ aides or bodyguards are usually the ones who manage to practice their marksmanship regularly. As informal members of virtual private armies, their skills are on tap not for the general public but for their political patrons. Other PNP members must make do with what they have, until the government decides to invest in upgrading the skills and equipment of law enforcers.
This is very sad. The fact that any civilized society has at least a crime committed, cops are imperative for its progress. However, if the PNP cannot provide marksmanship training and adequate bullets, what can we expect of our cops? They would be inefficient in their jobs and this inefficiency goes into a bad downtrend cycle. The top guns translate this inefficiency into bad performance rating. Unfortunately, it is only after a good performance rating that one goes up the salary rating scale. Some cops live in the poverty line and when their salary is not more than enough, we can expect these men in uniform to moonlight and even do the contrary. How many cops have we heard that were involved in criminal activities? There have been a lot and I think a lot will still be coming unless the government and PNP have to think faster of the reforms to be made. How many kutong cops have we heard too? There have been so many also. Why are these cops pushed to do something opposite of what they are supposed to do?
To be fair, there are still good cops out there. They are not only good in shooting targets, they have even risked lives to respond to calls of duty. How many cops have we heard being killed or hurt while responding to these calls? Although, there have only been a few, still life has been gallantly put at stake. How many families have we heard crying because they have lost their fathers in a crossfire which is more often dubbed by human right advocates as mere rubouts not ligitimate shootouts? Why are people so noisy when alleged criminals are shoot dead and do not even give a heck when good cops are mercilessly killed by these criminals? Have we grown so tired of the corruption that besieged our own police system? Questions, questions, questions. Unfortunately, there are no clear answers around the bend yet. Ours is as bad an eye sight as those nearly 90 perecent cops who failed in the firearms proficiency test. But at least I'm a shooter, never a dribbler. Huh!
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