The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) announced Friday that the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) has agreed to provide the organization with the communication backbone for their newly acquired BlackBerry mobile phones which police operatives will use to get real-time verification of vehicle registration and criminal records.

NCRPO Regional Director, Chief Supt. Roberto Rosales said the NCRPO and the PLDT entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the communication backbone that will serve as their jumping board for the implementation of the system using BlackBerry mobile phones as one of the modern technologies to fight criminality in Metro Manila.

Rosales said he introduced the use of BlackBerry phones when was still the district director of the Manila Police District, which was noted by President Arroyo as one of the promising programs on modernization by the Philippine National Police (PNP).

He said the President wanted the program to be replicated on a Metro-wide basis and issued an instruction for the full implementation of the use of BlackBerry mobile phones for the PNP’s anti-criminality drive.

To comply with the instruction of the President, the NCRPO will acquire 105 additional BlackBerry mobile phones to be distributed to different police stations all over Metro Manila.

The NCRPO chief said during the MOA signing, they distributed 45 BlackBerry mobile phones to the five district directors.

The 45 mobile phones which were distributed were an addition to the units that were previously acquired by the Manila Police District.

Rosales said the utilization of BlackBerry mobile phones is part of the overall modernization program that he started to implement in NCRPO.

Aside from the online system of verification through the BlackBerry phones, Rosales also initiated the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device for all patrol cars and motorcycle units in Metro Manila, the installation of more CCTV cameras in different parts of the metropolis, and upgrading of equipment of the Regional Tactical Operations and Intelligence Center (RTOIC).