Only 30 percent, or 26, of the 99 officers handling criminal investigations in Negros Occidental are trained police investigators, police records show.

To address this, Senior Supt. Allan Guisihan, provincial police director, has started a training program to equip police investigators of the 31 towns and cities of Negros Occidental with the necessary investigative skills.

Some police investigators in the province were recently criticized by their own colleagues for their lack of basic knowledge in crime scene preservation.

Guisihan said 50 police investigators are now undergoing a 30-day criminal investigation course at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City that aims at ensuring that officers handling cases have the knowledge and skills to do so.

Records of the Police Regional Office 6 also showed that 77 out of 451 police investigators have no formal training.

Senior Supt. Manuel Felix, deputy regional director for Operations of the Western Visayas police, admitted that the investigation skills of some police investigators are based only on their actual experience in the field.

Felix said he hopes that this training will improve their investigative skills.

The 30-day training covers a review of the basic principles, guidelines and techniques in handling criminal investigations.

One of the areas that reportedly needs immediate attention is the lack of competent and effective field investigators who possess the skills and the right attitude to work on a case and pursue it until it is resolved by the courts.

PNP chief Raul Bacalzo admitted that, at present, many police officers do not have the basic skills for handcuffing a suspect, patrol operations and case investigation, and do not know the Miranda doctrine.

The Miranda doctrine requires police officers to inform a suspect being arrested of his right to remain silent and the right to have a lawyer, among others.*GPB

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