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Solon calls for creation of National Crime Information System

Congressman Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian said the NCIS would act as a computerized index of crime and criminal justice information, including criminal record history information, fugitives, stolen properties, wanted and missing persons, and will be available to authorized law enforcement units 24 hours a day with the DILG-PNP as the lead agency.

“The purpose for maintaining the NCIS is to provide a computerized database for ready access by police officers making an inquiry and for prompt disclosure of information in the system from other criminal justice agencies, like the National Bureau of Investigation, about crimes and criminals,” said Gatchalian, a former mayor of Valenzuela City.

Gatchalian said the DILG and PNP can start moving for the creation of NCIS conducting a nationwide conference-workshop of all law enforcement agencies as well as intelligence units of the Armed Forces and this will focus on coming up with a unified list of all known organized criminals especially those engaged in kidnapping for ransom, bank robbery and payroll holdups, hired guns, and big-time drug syndicates.

Gatchalian noted during the time of former President Fidel Ramos several nationwide workshops have been conducted by the PNP and AFP and came up with a unified list of organized crime groups, which guided law enforcement units eventually resulting in the neutralization of the majority of those listed in the PNP-AFP “watchlist”.

During the short-lived administration of former President Joseph Estrada, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) led by the PNP Director-General Panfilo Lacson was also successful in neutralizing a large number of kidnap gangs, bank robbery and hold-up groups as well as big-time drug syndicates.
The PNP reported that kidnap for ransom cases as of August this year rose slightly to 38 nationwide, from 31 cases recorded during the same period last year.

A number of South Korean nationals have also been killed in recent months in separate incidents of kidnapping and carjacking, including the case of 21-year-old Lee Ji Won who was kidnapped and killed last March and the case of Korean businessman Bae Minju, who was killed in a carjacking incident last July 27. Bae’s wife was kidnapped but later released unharmed, and the family driver was arrested for possible involvement in the crime.

Gatchalian said information from the NCIS assists authorized agencies in criminal justice and related law enforcement objectives, such as apprehending fugitives, locating missing persons, locating and returning stolen property, and generating statistical data on crimes and criminals as well as in the protection of the law enforcement officers encountering the individuals described in the system.

“It’s about time that the DILG and PNP institutionalize the NCIS that will assist law enforcers in going after known criminals. The NCIS will also serve as the central data base to which new information about organized crime groups are added to keep it updated and relevant to the needs of law enforcement units,” Gatchalian said. (Monica Cantilero)