Wednesday, October 11, 2006 Police claim crime rate in RP dropped nearly 50% during 3rd quarter
A TOP PNP official on Tuesday said crime incidence has gone down by 42 percent during the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.
In a forum at the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame, PNP directorate for operations head Wilfredo Garcia attributed the feat to the PNP leadership's police visibility program.
Quoting from compiled documents, Garcia said there were only 2,404 cases of street crimes throughout the country during the third quarter, a 42 percent decline from the 4,157 cases reported during the same quarter last year.
He said the feat is among the successes that marked the first 100 days in office of PNP Chief Oscar Calderon.
Garcia also said kidnap-for-ransom cases also declined by much as 50 percent during the third quarter. He said there were only eight kidnapping cases during the period, compared to the 18 reported cases during the same period last year.
He said the decrease in the kidnap-for-ransom cases could be related to the series of arrests of kidnap-for-ransom leaders and members as well as the death of some ring members during encounters with the police.
Garcia also reported a 48 percent drop in carnapping incidents, 67 percent on robbery incidents and 56 percent in hijacking incidents.
Drug-related cases also declined by as much as 52 percent, according to Garcia. He said the decline in the number of drug offenses was an offshoot of the dismantling of a shabu laboratory in various parts of the country, the recent was in Parañaque City where police seized P200 million worth of shabu ingredients. (VR/Sunnex)
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