Except for murder, Bacolod crimes down by 40%

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

 

BACOLOD City – Criminal incidents here, except for murder, declined by 40.11% from January to December 2020 amid the pandemic.

Records from the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) indicated that the crime volume went down by 740 cases from 1,845 in 2019 to 1,105 cases last year.

For index crimes or crimes against person and property, the BCPO noted a 30.38% (113 cases) decrease from 372 in 2019 to 259 in 2020.

Of the eight focus crimes, theft posted the highest recorded cases with 81, followed by rape, 48, physical injuries, 42, robbery and murder with 38 cases each, homicide, 8, and motornapping, 2.

No carnapping incidents were reported last year, compared to two incidents recorded in 2019.

Homicide incidents decreased by 42.86%, while robbery and theft cases deceased by 48.65% and 39.09%, respectively. Rape cases also dropped by 17.24%.

But murder cases increased by six, or 15.79%, from 32 incidents in 2019.

Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Pico, BCPO’s public information officer, said these murder cases were shooting incidents allegedly linked to illegal drugs.

 

“It’s more on personal, drug-related killings that’s why nag taas,” Pico said.

 

However, the BCPO reported that the average monthly crime rate last year was recorded at 15.05%, with a difference of 10.08 or 40.11% compared to 25.13% in 2019.

Pico said the series of lockdown implemented in the city due to the pandemic contributed to the crime reduction.

Pico said the community quarantine status that prohibits people to go out of their homes means that chances for criminals to commit crimes were also lower.

He also said that the implementation of liquor ban is another factor in the decline in criminal incidents.

The BCPO also reported that non-index crimes or special law violations were reported to have a reduction of 42.57% or a 627 difference from 1,473 cases in 2019 to 846 incidents last year.

For the crime clearance efficiency (CCE), the BCPO has recorded 85.33%, or an increase of 2.53% from 82.80% in 2019, while for the crime solution efficiency (CSE), the city police force has reported 61% or an increase of 1.60% from 59.41% in 2019.

CCE refers to cases that were filed but suspects were at large, while CSE means that cases were filed and suspects were identified and arrested.