|
Friday, September 22, 2006
Petty crimes up; police puzzled, check crime clock
Supt. Melvin Gayotin, chief of the Cebu City Police Office, admits he is baffled why petty crime, particularly snatching and robbery, continues to rise despite increased police visibility.
Local police officials met in a command conference yesterday to review the assignments of additional policemen, who were supposed to beef up security in Cebu.
They wanted to see if the policemen were properly distributed in the crime-prone areas and if their schedules match trends discovered through the “crime clock.”
Cases of snatching and holdups generally occur from 4 to 10 p.m. every day.
During the conference, Gayotin ordered all the station commanders and special unit chiefs to focus their counter-measures on vulnerable times, as indicated by the crime clock reports.
Based on the feedback from the station commanders and special unit chiefs, Gayotin said petty crime in the crime-prone areas, especially in downtown Cebu City, have dropped.
Children
But they noticed that robbers have shifted their operations to the outer barangays of the city—like Barangay Inayawan, where a 19-year-old college student was shot dead in a jeepney last week by a robber who wanted her bag and cell phone.
There is also a need for the police to focus on the snatching incidents in the Carbon Market area, as children were reportedly being used to carry out the crime.
“Petty cases like the theft of vegetables, fish and other goods sold in Carbon lead to an increase in crime statistics, as these are recorded in the blotter,” Gayotin said.
He has advised the Carbon policemen to pick up the children and turn them over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 last week began deploying covert operatives to stop the rise in robberies in Cebu City and Province.
But Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña asked the PNP to ensure that secret marshals do not abuse the setup with transport groups by not paying their fare even when they’re off-duty.
Advantage
He advised passenger jeepney drivers to report those they believe are taking advantage of the program.
“I suggest to the drivers that the marshals have to go down where they boarded the jeepney to ensure that they are not using it (the assignment) for free rides,” Osmeña told a news conference yesterday.
One lesson learned from the rash of killings and robberies is that “you cannot just bring in bodies and wish that peace and order improves,” the mayor pointed out.
He pointed out that the visiting police operatives, who are in Cebu for field training, are “basically just security guards” who are needed to set up roadblocks and checkpoints for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in December.
That is why the local PNP and Barangay Intelligence Network (BIN) members play an important role in securing the city, he said.
Like tanods, the BIN members also do not just secure City Hall properties and buildings but also help in their communities.
Last Wednesday, the City Council referred to the PRO 7 legal office, for comment, Barangay Pahina Central’s request to arm its tanods.
In a report by the committee on laws headed by Councilor Edgardo Labella, the council said that while it is true that tanods are in the forefront against criminality in the barangays, there are laws that limit those who are entitled to carry guns.
“It must also be noted that a legislative intervention that would authorize the barangay tanods to carry firearms must have to be studied carefully, in the light of existing national legislations,” the committee said. (JST/RHM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 22, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
