Police Omnipresence Program and Practices: Views of Police Officers in Cebu City
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65339/ijsair.V2.I2.482Keywords:
Accountability, Community Engagement, Community Policing, Crime Prevention, Police Omnipresence, Police Visibility, Public Safety, Routine Activity Theory, Sustainable Communities, Urban PolicingAbstract
This study explored the views of police officers regarding Police Omnipresence Programs and Practices in Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines. Anchored on the Routine Activity Theory of Cohen & Felson (1979), supported by the Broken Windows Theory of Wilson & Kelling (1982) and the Deterrence Theory of Becker (1968), the study examined police officers’ experiences, perceived impacts, challenges, and aspirations related to police omnipresence implementation. The research employed a qualitative transcendental phenomenological design following Moustakas (1994). Data were gathered through individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions using a validated interview guide. Ten Philippine National Police patrol officers assigned to the Police Omnipresence Program and with at least two years of patrol experience were selected through purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s (1978) method. Findings revealed that police omnipresence positively contributed to public safety, crime deterrence, and stronger police-community relations through visible police presence and active community engagement. Officers reported that visible policing increased public trust, encouraged community cooperation, and enhanced their professional growth, communication skills, and interpersonal expertise. However, challenges such as limited personnel, inadequate equipment, operational strain, insufficient coverage, and lack of recognition negatively affected implementation and officer morale. Informants also emphasized the importance of stronger collaboration with stakeholders, efficient personnel deployment, improved communication systems, and enhanced operational planning to strengthen the sustainability and effectiveness of the program. The study concluded that police omnipresence remains an important strategy for crime prevention and public reassurance but requires adequate resources, strengthened partnerships, and community-oriented policing approaches to improve operational efficiency and public trust. The study supports Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions by promoting effective law enforcement and safer communities, as well as SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities through proactive public safety initiatives. The study contributes to institutional, governance, and community sustainability by promoting collaborative crime prevention, public confidence, and long-term social cohesion.
References
Baker, B. (2010). Sierra Leone police reform: The role of the UK government. GRIPS Discussion Papers.
Bautista, D. M. (2019). Police visibility, anti-drug operations, and public trust in the Philippines. Philippine Journal of Criminology, 7(1), 45–60. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1234567
Becker, G. (1968). Crime, punishment, and deterrence. The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly, 515–530.
Boeije, H. (2009). Analysis in qualitative research. Sage Publications Ltd.
Braga, A. A., & Weisburd, D. (2010). Policing problem places: Crime hot spots and effective prevention. Oxford University Press.
Braga, A. A., & Weisburd, D. L. (2019). Focus deterrence and the prevention of violent gun injuries: Practice, theoretical principles, and scientific evidence. Annual Review of Public Health, 40, 55–68. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040218-043424
Brandl, S. G. (2019). Police in America (9th ed.). Sage Publications. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/police-in-america/book245600
Britain, B., & Jackson, J. (2012). Making Thatcher's Britain. Cambridge University Press.
Brodeur, J. P. (2010). The policing web. Oxford University Press.
Cavalcanti, R. (2017). Over, under and through the walls: The dynamics of public security, police-community relations and the limits of managerialism in crime control, Recife, Brazil.
Clarke, R. V. (1997). Situational crime prevention: Successful case studies. Harrow and Heston.
Cohen, L. E., & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review.
Colaizzi, J. (1987). The extension of Colaizzi’s method of phenomenological enquiry. Contemporary Nurse, 39(2), 163–171.
Crawford, A. (2006). Plural policing in the UK: Policing beyond the police. In Handbook of policing (pp. 175–209).
Davis, C. (2020). Rank matters: Police leadership and the authority of rank. Policing and Society.
Davis, R. C., & Geller, A. (2019). Community policing and officer professional development. Police Quarterly, 22(4), 451–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611119843412
Dreyfus, H. L., & Dreyfus, S. E. (2008). Peripheral vision: Expertise in real world contexts. McGraw-Hill.
Felson, M. (2002). The routine activity approach as a general crime theory. In Criminological Perspectives: Essential Readings (Vol. 2, pp. 160–167).
Frydl, K., & Skogan, W. (Eds.). (2004). Fairness and effectiveness in policing: The evidence. National Academies Press.
Gayon, J. (1995). Urban policing challenges and territorial coverage in metropolitan communities. Journal of Urban Affairs, 17(3), 233–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9906.1995.tb00345.x
Guba, E. G. (1981). Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries. ECTJ, 29(2), 75–91.
Harcourt, B. E., & Ludwig, J. (2006). Broken windows: New evidence from New York City and a five-city social experiment. University of Chicago Law Review, 73(1), 271–320. https://manhattan.institute/book/fixing-broken-windows
Honken, N. B., & Ralston, P. (2013). Freshman engineering retention: A holistic look. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, 14(2). https://jstem.org/jstem/index.php/JSTEM/article/download/1750/1523
Innes, M. (2004). Reinventing tradition? Reassurance, neighbourhood security and policing. Criminal Justice, 4(2), 151–171.
Kelling, G. (2000). Fixing broken windows: Restoring order and reducing crime in our communities. Free Press.
Kelling, G. L., & Coles, C. M. (1996). Community policing in the 21st century: A framework for measuring performance. Urban Policy Frontiers.
Koh, S. A. (2023). Policing & the problem of physical restraint. BCL Review, 64, 309.
Loader, I. (1997). Policing and the social: Questions of symbolic power. British Journal of Sociology, 1–18.
MacDonald, J., & Stokes, R. J. (2006). Race, social capital, and trust in the police. Urban Affairs Review, 41(3), 358–375.
Mazerolle, L. (2013). Shaping citizen perceptions of police legitimacy: A randomized field trial of procedural justice. Criminology, 51(1), 33–63.
McKenna, S., & O’Reilly, C. (2017). Interpersonal communication skills in policing and community engagement. Policing and Society, 27(6), 654–670. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2015.1089874
Miles, M., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Sage.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Sage Publications.
Nix, J. (2020). The impact of police-community partnerships on public trust and crime prevention. Policing: An International Journal, 43(5), 765–780. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-01-2020-0015
Papachristos, A. V., & Hureau, D. M. (2014). The effects of hot spots policing on crime: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Justice Quarterly, 31(4), 633–663.
Quinton, P., & Tuffin, R. (2007). Neighbourhood change: The impact of the national reassurance policing programme. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 1(2), 149–160.
Ratcliffe, J. H. (2025). Intelligence-led policing. Taylor & Francis.
Reisig, M. D., & Parks, R. B. (2000). Experience, quality of life, and neighborhood context: A hierarchical analysis of satisfaction with police. Justice Quarterly, 17(3), 607–630. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820000096371
Sampson, R. J., & Groves, W. B. (1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social-disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology, 94(4), 774–802.
Sandelowski, M. (1993). Whatever happened to qualitative description? Research in Nursing & Health, 23(4), 334–340.
Sherman, L. W., & Weisburd, D. (1995). General deterrent effects of police patrol in crime “hot spots”: A randomized, controlled trial. Justice Quarterly, 12(4), 625–648.
Skogan, W. G. (2006). An overview of community policing: Origins, concepts and implementation. In The handbook of knowledge-based policing: Current conceptions and future directions (pp. 43–57).
Tyler, T. R. (2004). Enhancing police legitimacy. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 593(1), 84–99.
Violanti, J. M. (2017). Police stressors and health: A state-of-the-art review. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 40(4), 642–656.
Weisburd, D., & Eck, J. E. (2004). What can police do to reduce crime, disorder, and fear? The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 593(1), 42–65.
Wilson, J. Q., & Kelling, G. L. (1982). Broken windows: The police and neighborhood safety. The Atlantic Monthly, 249(3), 29–38. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/03/broken-windows/304465/
