CHAPTER 6

BASIC
PROCEDURES OF
POLICE OPERATION
 PATROL PROCEDURES
Duties and Responsibilities of Patrol
Officers
1. Patrolling assigned beats, observing and checking
suspicious people, structures/buildings,
compounds and vehicles;
2. Responding to calls, entertaining complaints;
initiating the investigation and protection of the
scene and minimizing the after effects of accident ,
fires and other catastrophes;
3. Inquiring at public gatherings, preventing disorders
and dispersing unlawful assemblies;
4. Preventing crimes and arresting wrongdoers
sighted, assuring the public that peace is
preserved;
5. Inspecting and/or conducting surveillance in various
places of business establishment s and other installation
and removal or hazards of public safety;
6. Assisting traffic personnel of responsibilities
agencies/unit in facilitating the flow of traffic at busy
intersections/roads within AOR;
7. Conducting home visitations, ugnayans/dialogue and
organizing CVOs during weekends;
8. Reporting occurrences and conditions which relate to
crime, public peace and order and public safety;
9.Enforcing city/municipal ordinances on liquor
establishments and night clubs, cabarets and all houses
of ill-refutes and ;
10. Checking suspicious vehicles (private, public, or
commercial/delivery vehicles along the highways in the
course of their patrol.
Patrol Officer shall observed the
following:
A. Wearing of proper Uniform
1.PNP GOA Uniform;
2.PNP Patrol Shoes;
3.Police Field Cap;
4. Blue web belt with skeleton buckle.
5. Leather Pistol Belt;
6. Nameplate ; and
7. Authorized Raincoats in case of
inclement weather
Wearing of proper Uniform
B. Bringing along the complete
Required Equipment
1. Side arm/long fire arms (FA)
2. PNP Truncheon
3. Handheld Radio for Foot Patrol
4. Base Radio for Mobile
5. Marked vehicle For Mobile Patrol with Yellow Rope for
establishing police line
6. Flash light for night patrol
7. Police Notebook and Pen
8. Handcuffs
9. Whistle
10.Early warning device
11.First aid kit
12.Jungle knife/knife
 B. Bringing along the
complete Required Equipment

Side arm/long fire arms (FA) First aid kit

PNP Truncheon Early warning device

Handheld Radio for Foot Patrol Base Radio for Mobile

Marked vehicle For Mobile

Patrol with Yellow Rope
for establishing police line Flash light for night patrol
Police Notebook and Pen Whistle

Handcuffs Jungle knife/knife

 DUTIES OF PATROL SUPERVISORS:
1. Make a patrol plan. In any operation, careful planning
is a must in order to avoid unnecessary waste of time,
effort and resources;
1) Area Coverage safe haven, ambush areas and prone
areas;
2) Organizational detail of personnel;
3) Duration;
4) Stand-by points; and
5) Route plan;

2. Designate District and Station Patrol Supervisors

3. Inspect the members of the patrol on the
completeness of the uniforms and the availability and
operational condition of personnel and equipment.
4. Conduct briefing prior to dispatch on the priority of
activities to be undertaken during the patrol as
situation demands and to remind them on the strict
observance of the PNP Rules and Engagements
before the dispatch. Debriefing shall likewise be
conducted after the patrol. This helps the
Commander address immediate problem in his area.
5. Render hourly report of location and situation thru
radio/telephone to PCPs/station Headquarters TOC.
6. Render after patrol report duly assigned by detailed
personnel. PCP Commanders shall collate same and
submit significant details to the station patrol
supervisor, who in turn shall submit the more
significant items in the PCP reports to the
provincial/District patrol Supervisor.
7. Strictly observe Buddy System during the patrol
operations.
 PATROL GUIDLINES:
1. Observe precautionary measures and personal safety
while on patrol.
2. Drivers of mobile cars on patrol must practice
defensive driving and must follow traffic rules and
regulations.
3. Select routes which provide best visibility.
4. Be observant of people, places, situations or
conditions, and develop a suspicious attitude even if
they appear to be slightly out of ordinary.
5. Use fact and persuasiveness when conducting spot
inquiry or questioning individuals for information.
Disguise questioning as a simple conservation as it may
be taken negatively if on the form of interrogation.
6. When requiring a suspicious person or any individual
for identification, never handle the wallet or bag in
which cards and documents are located. Let the
individual remove and hand to them to you.
7. Be familiar as much as possible with known
criminals/ex-convicts residing in or frequenting the
patrol beat.
8. Be on the alert for loiterers. They may be law-
abiding citizen with enough time to spend or they
may be homosexuals/sex offenders waiting for their
victims, drug dealers, smugglers, vagrants, look-
outs and criminal casing the scene of a planned
crime.
9. Keep under close observation actions of juveniles,
trouble makers/agitators and mentally ill/retarded
persons. They pose a potential danger to others if
not properly handled.
10. Observe the practice of shaking doors of
unguarded business establishments during night
patrol. Check for signs of intrusion.
11. When checking suspicious person, places,
buildings/establishment and vehicles especially
during night-time be prepared to use your service
firearm. Flashlight should be held well away from
the body to avoid making your self as a target.
12. Be familiar with all personnel who are permitted to
stay-in business, establishments after business
hours in your beat. Establish good rapport with the
business establishments managers and other
businessmen in your beat. They can be a good
source of information.
13. Keep watch an occupied homes. They are likely
targets for robbery or maybe utilized as temporary
refuge by criminals.
14. Patrol members should avoid loitering in theaters,
restaurants or public places. Active and aggressive
patrolling is a great deterrence to crime, where the patrol
may appear at any time at any place, when least
excepted.
15. Develop contacts by getting to know as many people
who you can give factual information about the crime
condition in the patrol beat.
16. Patrol members must be always on the look-out for
indications of vices and other illegal activities in his beat.
The mare fact that they have expressed themselves in
front of impartial third party may help them develop a
solution to their problem. Immediate response though is
necessary for these kinds of call.
17. Patrol members must keep themselves well informed of
all conditions, events and particular places in his beat.
This would enable them to provide information and
direction to people asking for assistance.
 GUIDELINES AND PRECEDURES WHEN
RESPONDING TO CALLS FOR POLICE
ASSISTANCE:
1. Get and note down in your patrol logbook all
available data as to the nature of the calls, date,
time, and the name of the caller. It maybe
routinely, urgent or emergency nature.
2. In all cases, the driver of the mobile patrol should
avoid reckless driving.
3. The manner of approach will be dependent on the
nature of the call whether with haste or secrecy
and with or without flashing lights and sirens.
4. Consider the pertinent factors as time of the day,
condition of traffic, the possibility of greater
damage and the neighborhood characteristics.
5. Approach the scene on the foot in complete silence
exercising extreme caution.
6. Stop the car some distance away from the scene.
7. Immediately attend to the injured person unless the
patrol members and others are in immediate danger.
8. Make every effort to arrest criminals. Except for
aiding the injured, this has be the first priority.
9. Determine the type of crime committed, identify and
question briefly the victim/complainant and possible
witnesses at the scene.
10. When the suspects, for or criminals have fled the
scene before your arrival, immediately relay same to
the station TOC with the complete description of the
composition armament and appearance of the
suspects to include the mode and direction of
suspects, for the activation of dragnet operations.
11. Do not attempt to arbitrate and resolve
conflicts/differences between neighbors,
landlords/tenants, husband and wife. However, you
should allow both sides to tell their stories.
12. When responding to street fights/brawls, the
patrol member should call for additional assistance
before intervening. A show of force is always
necessary. If there are no injuries and not enough
corroborative statements obtained to identify who
started the fight, just disperse the crowd and make
complete notes on your notebooks.
13. Never treat calls or complaints loud noise caused
by barking dogs, drunks, appliances and parties as
not important or a nuisance. Theses should be viewed
as another form of public service. They only need
courteous and tactful intervention not enforcement
actions.
14. When responding to call for police assistance due
to planted explosives or found explosives, do not
touch/alter or lift the object. Instead contact
TOC and request for EODT. On lookers must be
driven away.
15. When responding to calls from owners of beer
houses, bars or inns or any other similar
establishments during night time, request from the
owner to put on the light first before entering
such establishments. This will prevent surprise
move of the subject of the call when they are
armed.
SPOT CHECKS /ACCOSTING AND
PAT-DOWN SEARCH
Spot check/accosting and pat-down search are
police interactions with citizens where reasonable
suspicion/probable cause is present which would justify
infringement on the privacy and travel rights of
citizens. For the purpose of preventing and
investigating criminal activity and/or ensuring the
safety of the concerned police officers and others,
while at the same time minimizing the inconvenience and
infringement of privacy/travel rights of citizens, this
rule sets forth the limitations of and parameters for
the authority, and allowable conduct, practices and
procedures of police officers when conducting spot
checks/accosting, and pat-down searches of citizens.
 PROTECTING AND PRESERVING
THE CRIME SCENE:
1. Arrive as soon as possible, record of time of arrival,
weather condition or situation of the crime scene and if
possible take photographs of the scene and its immediate
vicinity.
2. Establish the police lines and exclude unauthorized person
from the scene.
3. Avoid touching or stepping on anything that may represent
evidence.
4. Look and protect adjacent areas to the scene where
firearms, footprints, dropped articles and bloodstains could
be found.
5. Look for the presence of bloodstains and other body fluid.
They are easy ignored and obliterated.
6. Turn over all initial information and evidences gathered to
the responding investigation unit/elements.
Definition of Terms
1. Spot check/accosting- The brief stopping of
individual, whether on foot or in a vehicle, based on
reasonable suspicion/probable cause, for the of
determining the individuals identity and resolving the
officers suspicion concerning criminal activity.
2. Pat-down Search- A frisk or external feeling of
the outer garments of individual for weapons only.
3. Reasonable Suspicion/Probable cause Facts that,
within totality of the circumstances, lead an officer
to reasonably suspect, or to have probable cause to
believe, that criminal activity has been, is being, or is
about to be committed.
Grounds for Spot check/Accosting- Law
enforcement officer may stop individuals for the
purpose of conducting a spot check/accosting only
where reasonable suspicion/probable cause is present.
Reasonable suspicion/probable cause must be more than
just a hunch or feeling. In justifying the stop, the
officers must be able to point to specific facts that,
when taken together with rational inferences,
reasonably warrant the stop. Such facts include, but
are not limited to following:
1. The appearance or demeanor of an individual suggests
that he or she is part of a criminal enterprise or is
engaged in criminal act.
2. The actions of the individual suggest that he or she is
engaged in a criminal activity.
3. Questionable presence of the individual in the
area.
4. The suspect I crying a suspicious object.
5. The suspect is clothing bulges in a manner that
suggests he or she is carrying a weapon.
6. The suspect is located in proximate time and place
to an alleged crime.
7. The officer has knowledge of the suspects prior
criminal record or involvement in criminal activity.
8. The individual flees at the sight of a police
officer.
 Procedures and guidelines for Spot
Checks/accosting- The following guidelines
shall be followed when making an authorized
spot check/accosting:

1. When approaching the individual, the officer shall clearly

identify himself as a law enforcement officer, if not in
uniform, by announcing his identity and displaying official
identification card and/or badge.
2. Officers shall be courteous at all times but maintain caution
and vigilance for suspicious movements to retrieve weapons,
conceal or discard contraband, or other suspicious actions.
3. Before approaching more than individual, officers should
determine whether the circumstances warrant a request for
assistance and whether the spot check/accosting can and
should be delayed until such assistance arrives.
4. Officers shall confine their question to those concerning the
suspects identity place of residence, and other inquiries
necessary to resolve the officers suspicions. However, in no
instance shall an officer hold a suspect longer than is
reasonably necessary to make these limited inquiries and
resolve suspicions.
5. Officers are not required to give suspects Miranda warnings
unless the person is placed under arrest.
6. Suspects are not required, nor can they be compelled, to
answer any questions posed during spot checks/accosting.
Failure to respond to an officers inquiries is not, In and of
itself sufficient grounds to make an arrest although it may
provide sufficient justification for additional observational
observation and investigation.
Grounds for Body frisk/Pad-
down Searches
A law enforcement officer has the right to
perform a pat-down search if, the individual has been
legitimately stopped with reasonable suspicion and when
the officer has reason to believe that the individual
possesses weapons on his or her person and poses a
threat to the officers or another persons safety.
Situations when Pat Down Search is justified:
1. The type of crime suspected-particularly crimes of
violence where the use of threat of deadly weapons is
involved.
2. Where more than one suspect must be handled by a
single officer.
3. The time of the day and the location or where the pat
down search takes place.
4. Prior knowledge of the suspects use of force
and/or propensity to carry deadly weapons.
5. The appearance and demeanor of the suspect.
6. Visual indications suggesting that the suspect is
carrying a firearm or other deadly weapon.
7. Whenever possible, pat-down searches should
be performed by officers of the same sex.

Officers should take note that these

criteria/factors are not all inclusive , there are
others that could or should be considered. The
existence of more than one of these
criteria/factors may be required in order to
justify a pat-down search, the more, the
better.
Procedures of Pat-Down Search- When
reasonable suspicion/probable cause justifies a pat down
search, the search should be performed with due caution,
restraint and sensitivity. These searches may only be
performed to protect the safety of officers and others
and may never be used as pretext for shaking down
individuals or groups of individuals to obtain evidence or
for other purposes. Pat down search should be conducted
in the following manner:
1. Whenever possible, pat-down searches should be
conducted by at least two (2) officers, one who performs
the search while the other provides protective cover.
2. Because pat-down searches are cursory in nature, they
should be performed with the suspect in a standing
position or with hands placed against a stationary object
and feet spread apart. Should an officer visually observe
a weapon, however, a more secure search position may be
used as the prone position.
 3. In pat-down search, officers are permitted only
to feel the outer clothing of the suspect. Officers
may not place their hands in pockets unless they
feel an object that could reasonably be a weapon,
such as a forearm, knife, club or other item.
4. If the suspect is carrying an object such as
handbag, suitcase, briefcase, sack, or other item
that may conceal a weapon, the officer should not
open the item but instead place it out of the
suspects reach.
5.If the external feeling of the suspects clothing
fails to disclose evidence of a weapon no further
search may be made. If the item is a weapon, the
possession of which is a crime, the officer may
make an arrest of the suspect and complete a
full-custody search of the suspect.
 Reporting after the Spot
Check/Accosting or Pat-Down
Search
If after conducting a pot check/accosting or pat-
down search, the officer has no basis for making
an arrest, the officer should record the facts of
such spot check/accosting or pat-down search
justifies an arrest, Section 6, Rule 12, on
Warrantless Arrest shall be followed by the
concerned officer.
THE END