Police Work at Lucena City Port: Gaps, Solutions, and Paths Forward

Abstract

Seaports play a crucial role in facilitating global trade, supporting economic growth, and ensuring national security. The study aims to systematically evaluate the degree to which Philippine Ports Authority police personnel fulfill their assigned regulatory roles and identify the operational, organizational, and environmental challenges they encounter. The Philippine Ports Authority plays a critical role in managing and securing public ports across the country, including Lucena City Port. The Lucena City Port police personnel, as part of this operational framework, are tasked with upholding rules and regulations to maintain order within the port premises, ensure safe movement of goods and passengers, and safeguard the integrity of port facilities. This study analyzed the current roles and challenges of Port Police Authority police personnel in Lucena City Port to provide an empirical foundation for enhancing their training and professional development and to develop an improved and contextualized Port Police Training Manual. This study employed a descriptive quantitative research design, the design was selected to allow the researcher to systematically describe and quantify the responses of the participants without manipulating any variables, as defined by Creswell, descriptive research enabled the accurate portrayal of characteristics of a given population, particularly in relation to observed behaviors and perceptions. The researcher recommends the Philippine Ports Authority should institutionalize targeted training modules for Philippine Ports Authority police personnel, must strengthen institutional support systems and adopt and integrate the five evidence-based training components developed in this study into its existing Port Police Training Manual.