At the same time, the MPD will put a student assistance desk in as many schools as possible, Chief Supt. Pedro Bulaong, MPD director, said.

‘’Although we have conducted lectures on the subject for four years, this is the first time that we decided to distribute" the anti-crime prevention pamphlets, Bulaong said.

He said the Crime Prevention Tips pamphlet was prepared by Senior Supt. Edgardo Danao of MPD Station 2 and was reproduced in two versions, Tagalog and English, for easy reading.

Basically, the pamphlet is a compilation of practical tips one can do to prevent crime and how to properly report the occurrence of crime.

Bulaong said the student assistance desk will serve as a venue for students to file their complaints or ask for police assistance. This way, they will not have to go to the police station in their area to report a crime or ask for assistance, he said.

‘’Most of the time students do not bother to report incidents as this would affect their schedule,’’ Bulaong said.

The creation of a student assistance desk was the product of a recent dialogue between school officials and city administrators as they sought to promote close coordination between law enforcers and school administrators.

The program was initiated in 2002 following a protest conducted by students and teachers of the St. Paul College.

Teachers then explained that they conducted the sit-in rally to protest the alleged inaction of the police on criminal incidents.

‘’When we checked our records, we found out that out of the 100 incidents, only seven had been reported to the police,’’ Bulaong said.

Because of this, the MPD decided to initiate a program, later dubbed as the School Campus Security Committee, which is the group now handling the student assistance desk.

The four-year program encouraged shared responsibility for school and police officials.

Although the student assistance desk is manned by teachers or any school personnel, the police commander is duty bound to check the complaints lodged by students on a daily basis.