Philippines Police Adopt Biometric Tracking System to Catch Truant Officers

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) in the Philippines is moving forward with the full implementation of a biometric attendance and time tracking system. The NCRPO Biometric System utilizes fingerprint recognition to monitor the comings and goings of various law enforcement personnel.

1,266 law enforcement employees have already been enrolled in the new system. An additional 190 are still making their way through the process. According to Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, the acting chief of the NCRPO, the program is intended to improve discipline within the ranks and clamp down on unexcused absences and late arrivals.

To that end, the NCRPO Information Technology Office will generate a daily attendance report at 7pm. Anyone marked absent will receive a notification from their department, prompting a brief investigation about whether or not the absence was justified, and what the penalty should entail. Those who fail to show up for work will also have deductions on their paychecks.  

The new system is currently being deployed at the NCRPO regional headquarters and its support units at Camp Bagong Diwa. However, Sinas is planning to expand the program to five Metro Manila police districts before introducing it at police stations. He implemented similar systems while serving at the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory and as Chief of the Central Visayas police.

The Philippine National Police in Manila previously adopted an Automated Fingerprint Identification System from NEC, although that particular platform was intended to identify criminals rather than the officers themselves. In any case, the NCRPO implementation does speak to the country’s growing interest in biometric tech. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently indicated that it expects to print 23 million biometric IDs in 2020, while Gemalto tech was used to verify the fingerprints of voters during elections that were held earlier this year.  

Source: Philippine Canadian Inquirer

–

January 2, 2020 – by Eric Weiss