CHECKPOINT

"We won't be distracted by comparison if we are captivated with purpose".

-Bob Goff

The Philippine National Police is intensifying the conduct of checkpoints and its crime prevention campaign to address safety and security concerns.

The security checkpoint and the information checkpoint are the two main categories of checkpoints. The defensive limit border that first appeared in the modern era is the security checkpoint. The security checkpoint protects, defends, and enforces the institutions that are defined and ordered by this border march, while the police checkpoint marches out into the streets to divide the populace into citizens and criminals. The information checkpoint is the third main type of barrier in modern times. Information borders, as opposed to offensive police borders and defensive security borders, have a singular boundary or binding purpose: they force or bind social flows as collections of data points. A data point is a discrete instance of a social trend, such as a place, a name, a color, or a date.

There are two possible kinds of checkpoints that you may encounter while on the road. The first is a regular checkpoint, which is well lit with signage all over the place and with barriers set up in order to properly facilitate traffic through. Think of it like a toll booth on a highway. The second is a hastily set-up checkpoint. This is set up to block the escape of lawless elements from a crime scene and is also established when nearby checkpoints are ignored or during hot pursuit operations. It is set up by the police personnel conducting mobile patrol on board a marked police vehicle or those conducting ISO and foot patrol operations within the vicinity or perimeter of the national or provincial highways.

This will typically consist of a team leader, spotter, spokesperson, investigation sub-team, search/arresting sub-team, security sub-team, and blocking/pursuing sub-team. This kind of checkpoint will also come with collapsible signage with the marking "Stop, Police Checkpoint," indicating the name of the concerned police office or unit conducting the operations.

What should you do at a checkpoint? First things first, you will need to remain calm and collected; the police are only there to inspect your vehicle and not to cause you harm. Make sure that once you approach the checkpoint, you slow down, dim your headlights, and turn on your cabin lights. Do not step out of the vehicle or show signs of aggression towards the officer. Next, make sure that you lock all of your doors, as only a visual inspection is allowed.

Reference:

Deriquito, J. (2022, August 25). Things to do and not to do at a checkpoint | Autodeal. AutoDeal. https://www.autodeal.com.ph/articles/car-features/things-do-and-not-do-checkpoint