Soldier is still a police officer at heart

By SSG Fabian M. Indalecio
Special To The Saipan Tribune

Sergeant Franklin DLG Pangelinan of Company E 100 Battalion 442 Infantry has been deployed in Iraq since February of this year.

An infantry soldier from the Northern Mariana Islands, he left home, loved ones, and his civilian duties to serve his country in the present war in Iraq. A police officer back on Saipan and a combat soldier abroad, he thought his deployment would be a long break away from police work.

However, because of his extensive background and experience in law enforcement, he was selected to participate in an important mission given to the 100th Battalion 442nd Infantry.

For the past three months, he, along with six other soldiers within the battalion, who are police officers back home as well, has been training Iraqi police officers within the vicinity of the battalion’s area of operation. This group of trainers was named the Police Transition Team or PTT.

Sergeant Pangelinan, rather officer Pangelinan, has invested about eight years with the CNMI Department of Public Safety. His past operational assignments include the Patrol Section and Traffic Section. He is currently assigned to the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s Thief Apprehension Select Coalition better known as TASC, a highly successful investigative unit that deals with crimes of burglary, robbery, and theft to name a few.

As part of daily combat operations, the PTT heads out to the Iraqi police station within their area of operation from which training is conducted with the Iraqi police officers.

Recent training consisted of Basic Uniform Standards and Personnel Inspection, Traffic Control Techniques, Traffic Stops, Vehicle and Residential Search Techniques, Body Search Techniques, Vehicle and Foot Patrol Techniques, Officer Safety and Survival, and Community Oriented Policing.

Courses are taught in a makeshift classroom environment with practical exercises and actual operations at the end of each course. The PTT will continue training the Iraqi police for the next few months with more courses offered, along with reinforcement training on courses already completed.

“When SSG Frederick Quinene (of the Guam Police Department) and I were told about our selection, the first thing that came to our mind was ‘here we go again back to police work.’ After the first week of training the Iraqi Police, I kind of had a change of heart. I enjoy teaching and mentoring others and that is what I am doing in this mission,” Pangelinan said.

He said in the beginning, he and his team had some obstacles to overcome such as the language barrier, the differences in culture and law, the level of comprehension, the lack of confidence in each officer, and most importantly the possibility of insurgent attacks along the way.

“We have slowly overcome those obstacles but there is still much more work to be done. All courses were prepared based on each team member’s knowledge and experience. Training manuals/books are useless because law enforcement in America is extremely different from the type of law enforcement we saw here,” said Pangelinan.

He also said, so far, the training of the Iraqi police force has been encouraging.

“We catered to them and it is working out pretty well. Each officer underwent some sort of law enforcement training as part of the hiring process,” he said. “Our intent was to supplement the training they have already received with the introduction of different techniques, tactics, and procedures, so that they can enhance and improve their present police force. We then needed to instill confidence in the police and the community, which was where Community Oriented Policing came to play.”

Pangelinan also saw changes on how the community now treats its newly trained police force.

“At first, the Iraqi Police were not respected by the citizens. The Iraqi Police did not believe in themselves and the community did not believe in them as well. Because they incorporated the training we provided to them, we saw a huge turnaround in the police-community relations,” he said. “The police evolved from being jobbers to professionals, and the community is taking a vital role in fighting crime and preserving peace. Uniformed officers and citizens are now helping one another. Overall, the quality of life within their area of operation has improved. We train these officers out in the open where we are all prone to insurgent attacks. Times have been good and times have been bad, but they drive on along with us.

“The Iraqi Police control their own destiny; we just provide them with purpose, direction, and motivation. They are now the ones attempting to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. We help steer them the right way.”