BAGUIO CITY – The leadership of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) declared that the crime volume in the city dropped by 56 percent over the past four weeks from a high of ninety one cases per week to only forty cases per week.
Senior Superintendent George D. Daskeo, BCPO acting city director, said that before the implementation of Oplan Lambat Sibat of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the average crime volume in the city was 91 for the period January 2014 to October 13, 2015 or a period of 93 weeks.
However, the police official reported that from October 14, 2015 to June 14, 2016, the average crime volume dropped to 76 for a duration of 35 weeks.
“With the cooperation of local residents and visitors, we were able to control and continuously reduce the crimes in the city as shown by the decreased average crime volume over the past four weeks from May 11 to June 14, 2016. From 40, it lowered down to 45,” Daskeo stressed.
It was learned that for the four weeks between May 11 to June 7, 2016, the average crime volume in the city was 44, while for the week of June 8 to June 14, 2016, crime volume dropped to 41.
The BCPO official attributed the success of the local police force in significantly reducing the crime volume in the city to the enhanced police visibility round-the-clock and the cooperation and support of force multipliers down to the barangay level in the implementation of peacekeeping initiatives to make the city a better place to study, work, live and do business in.
According to him, the different police stations in the city will continue to network with force multipliers in order to be able to successfully implement the needed peacekeeping strategies in the city’s 128 barangays to deter crimes that may affect tourism, a significant source of income for the city.
Daskeo said that the BCPO will also be training force multipliers to enhance their appropriate knowledge and skills that will help in discharging their assigned duties and responsibilities so that lasting peace will continue to reign in the city that will subsequently translate to the expected influx of more foreign and domestic visitors.
Daskeo appealed to local residents to be vigilant on what his happening in their neighborhood so that they could immediately report to the nearest police station any untoward incident that is happening or about to happen that will compromise the safety of persons so that law enforcers could immediately.
He said local residents are peace-loving people that is why it is not difficult for law enforcers to closely monitor the daily activities of the populace but those who are often caught committing crimes are those migrants, thus, the need for the intensified operation against criminals in the different barangays.
By Dexter A. See
