Bacolod crime volume drop by 35% in 2019

By: Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – Criminal incidents here decreased by 35.40 percent from January to December 2019.

Police Colonel Henry Biñas, director of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), said that 1,832 cases were recorded last year, with a reduction of 1,004 cases, compared to 2,836 incidents in 2018.

In a press conference at the BCPO headquarters yesterday, Biñas said that the crime reduction can be attributed to their intensified campaign against illegal drugs.

“If we can address the problem on illegal drugs, magapabilin na matawhay ang city. Hopefully, we can maintain it this year,” he said, adding that they will continue to focus more on the eradication of illegal drugs to prevent other crimes.

For index crimes or crimes against persons or properties, BCPO noted a decrease of 41.88 percent or 263 cases from 628 cases in 2018 to 365 incidents in 2019.

For non-index crimes, cases dropped by 33.56 percent or 741 cases from 2,208 incidents in 2018 to 1,467 cases in 2019.

For eight focus crimes, murder increased by seven cases from 24 incidents in 2018 to 31 cases in 2019.

Biñas said that most murder cases were drug-related because they received information that some personalities were involved in the illegal drug trade. He did not name these personalities.

Theft topped the list with 132 incidents, followed by robbery, 77; rape, 53; physical injury, 50; homicide, 14; motornapping, 6; and carnapping, 2.
Traffic accidents also dropped with 308 cases last year against 981 incidents in 2018.