Friday, January 04, 2008 Crime incidents decline by 9% in 2007 By Marna H. Dagumboy
CAMP OLIVAS -- Central Luzon Police announced that the region's crime incidents declined by nine percent in 2007.
Police records showed that from January to December 2007, a remarkable decrease of 489 crime incidents or 9.40 percent was due to the intensified crime prevention efforts and visibility innovations strategically established in every corner and intersections along major and minor thoroughfares.
Central Luzon is considered as one of the leading growth regions nationwide as it continues to enjoy peaceful and orderly condition and successful year, Police Regional Office (PRO) 3 said.
Central Luzon Police Chief Errol Pan said the situation was greatly attributed to the strong partnership with the community, local government units (LGUs) and the unwavering loyalty and devotion of 8,000 strong PRO 3 and 253 non-uniformed personnel.
Pan said incidents like bank robbery, kidnap-for-ransom and highway robbery were reduced by 50 percent.
Significantly, the unrelenting anti-crime operations resulted in the neutralization of 59 members of 11 organized crime groups and criminal gangs; arrest of one national most wanted person (MWP); seven MWP in the regional level with a total reward of P1.8 million; 128 MWP in the provincial level and 2,670 other wanted persons including the accounting of 728 assorted loose firearms.
Pan added that the campaign against illegal drugs recorded a milestone as exemplified in the arrest of 928 suspected pushers/users; 566 criminal cases filed in different courts and the seizure of about 42 million grams of suspected marijuana and about two million grams of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly known as "shabu" with an estimated value of P8.4 million.
Moreover, he said 16 armed-communist guerillas were arrested; 575 voluntarily surrendered to the government; 23 were killed; 353 assorted high-powered loose firearms and hundreds of rounds of live ammunitions, magazines and voluminous subversive documents were recovered during encounters.
He said the implementation of the three-tiered defense system on anti- terrorism with intelligence fusion and increase awareness through the conduct of 45 seminars, lectures, workshops on bomb threats management and the creation of bomb squad units in the regional & provincial/city police offices remarkably kept Central Luzon free from terrorist threat.
Report revealed not only the operational effectiveness and capability of PRO 3 but also administratively by the implementation of the Police Integrated Transformation Program in order to have a better and stronger police force through the construction of 21 new police stations as well as the utilization of Internet messaging through Yahoo Messenger and e-mail.
Internal reforms in the police organization were equally given utmost attention through fast resolution of administrative cases and other counter-measures against potential would-be rascals-in-uniform resulting in the dismissal from the police service of 30 policemen including one police commissioned officer (PCO); 56 were meted with suspension but more importantly, a total of 2,763 policemen were given awards and recognition as a fitting reward for their exemplary performance.
Regional Public Information Chief Baltazar Mamaril Jr. said: "PRO 3 has sworn-in 350 new police recruits last December 12, 2007 not to mention the 246 who took their oath last August or additional 596 young policemen and policewomen of PRO3."
