The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) announced Friday that the Regional Tactical Operation and Intelligence Office (RTOIC) is now in full operation after it was inaugurated last Thursday by President Arroyo.

The new unit aims to improve both efficiency and effectiveness of the police force in enforcing law, and fighting crime, and promoting public safety.

NCRPO Regional Director Roberto Rosales said that the RTOIC is the first operations center of the Philippine National Police (PNP) that has the capability of a full-scale command, control and communication center. It shall serve as the main monitoring and dispatch hub of all police operations in Metro Manila.

Rosales said that the center has 42 units of 40-inch Large Format Display (LFD) monitors that have been configured to show video feeds from all closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras all over the metropolis.

He also said that using state-of-the-art wireless technology, all existing CCTV systems, such as those in the cities of Manila, Taguig, Pasig, Quezon City, and of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) are integrated through a digital backhaul facility.

The NCRPO chief explained that its data storage capacity can handle six months of video data and two years of backup, making the center not only useful in responding tactical situations but also provides a rich database of information that can be used for strategic planning and other police administration purposes.

Rosales said that the RTOIC has been designed to absorb the traditional functions of the Regional Tactical Operation Center (RTOC), including the functions in the reception and transmittal of all communications by fax, e-mail, and through radio.

He said that for the dispatch or deployment of patrol units, its Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, together with digital maps on screen, allows accurate tracking of mobile patrol cars which have been proven to be very useful in monitoring of incidents and in calibrating response of police personnel and units to be deployed.

During the inauguration last Thursday, Rosales showed the direction of future developments of RTOIC.

Rosales bared the plan to fully utilize the capability of the present system to handle as much as 2,000 CCTV cameras in order to cover all cities and the lone municipality of Pateros.

He also said that NCRPO will later on employ video analytics to monitor, without active human intervention, concerns such as one-way streets, left baggage, loitering, carnapping, and perimeter intrusion.