THE Iloilo City Police Office (Icpo) is aiming for a zero crime incident during the conduct of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on May 14.
“We encouraged the public to be vigilant and if you notice something that is unusual within your area, please help the Icpo by immediately reporting to police personnel nearest to your place for us to be able to achieve zero crime incident during elections,” Icpo operations chief Jowel Saliba said.
Out of 661 Icpo personnel, 124 will be assigned to polling precincts, 244 personnel posted in Standby Quick Reaction team, and 136 will be augmented to the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Western Visayas.
Saliba assured the public they have enough personnel to maintain peace and order in the metropolis with the decreasing trend in crime volume.
Icpo noted there was a drop of 28.40 percent or 2,508 incidents from January to April 2018 compared to 3,503 incidents during the same period in 2017.
“Iloilo remains a peaceful city. One of the factors why there was a decrease was due to maximum police visibility wherein 90 percent of our force are up for deployment and roving. These policemen were visible on the streets and since the election period started, each police station conducted two checkpoint operations in a day,” Saliba said.
Mayor Jose Espinosa III commended Icpo for maintaining the peace and order of the metropolis.
“I would like to personally thank our police for being there always in maintaining a livable city. I can guarantee you that the City Government is ready to help with your needs and will extend its utmost help to you. Let us become partners in making sure that the peace we are experiencing will not be disturbed,” Espinosa said.
Saliba assured that Icpo, through the leadership of Director Henry Biñas, who ordered the police to maintain first personal discipline to be able to perform their duty well, to make sure that the decrease in crime volume will be sustained.
“We are conducting assessment every week to analyze the effectivity of our deployment. Our police are also being assigned to different posts, meaning they are not only posted in the same spot all the time,” Saliba said. (PR)