BAGUIO CITY – The Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) reported the crime incidents in the city continue to be on a downtrend not only over the past two years but also for the first four months of this year.
BCPO officer-in-charge Police Col. Allen Rae F. Co disclosed that from January to April this year, crime incidents dropped by 316 incidents or 27 percent compared to the crime incidents in the same period last year where there were some 1,150 crimes recorded by the different police stations in the city.
Further, he reported the index crimes comprising the crimes against property, robbery, theft, carnapping and crime against persons, homicide, murder, rape and physical injuries, notably decreased by 22 incidents or 16 percent.
The police official pointed out that the manageable crime situation is a jumpstart to an even more peaceful and productive city as each resident gives full support to the campaign of law enforcers against illegal drugs and criminality.
In 2017, the BCPO claimed there were 3,478 recorded crimes in the police blotter of all police stations compared to the 3,313 crimes recorded in 2018, a decrease of 165 incidents or 5 percent from the total crime volume.
Based on the BCPO report, the bulk of the recorded incidents were vehicular accidents while there were 9 homicide cases, 394 physical injuries and 1,757 damage to property due to reckless imprudence.
According to the report, what is notable in the said decrease is the emphasis on the reduction of index crimes from 703 in 2017 to only 409 last year, a decrease of 294 incidents (42 percent) or almost half of the previously recorded cases.
Police authorities disclosed the two most prevalent crimes in the city, physical injuries and theft, significantly decreased by 46 percent and 45 percent, respectively.
They claimed that when people in the community trust their policemen, when they have a high sense of confidence in them and cooperate fully with them, the policemen will be enabled, will feel better about themselves, thus, they will perform better, work their best and produce greater results.
Co expressed his gratitude to the local government led by Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan, the stakeholders, different volunteer groups, and the community for their utmost and unending support to the BCPO through the years as evidenced by the recently concluded May 13, 2019 mid-term elections where Baguio city was commended as one of the most peaceful and orderly cities in the conduct of the political exercise in the whole country.
He also expressed his gratitude to all the candidates and local leaders who respected the norms of conduct expected of public servants and committed themselves to run a clean campaign, observing fairness, common decency, honesty and good faith which greatly contributed to the conduct of the peaceful and orderly elections in the city amidst recent issues that cropped up on alleged vote-buying shortly before and during the elections and black propaganda against a number of the aspirants for the different elected positions.
By Dexter A. See