THE Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has recorded a decrease of 17.12 percent in criminal incidents from January 1 to December 31, 2018.

Senior Superintendent Francisco Ebreo, acting BCPO director, announced this in a press briefing at the city police headquarters on Thursday, January 3, along with the 10 station commanders.

Ebreo said 2,823 incidents were recorded in 2018 compared to 3,406 cases in 2017, posting a reduction of 583 incidents.

For index crimes or crimes against person or property, 677 cases in 2018 were recorded as against the 1,132 incidents in 2017, with a decrease of 455 cases or 40.19 percent.

For the eight focus crimes, theft has the highest number of cases with 261 followed by physical injury, 168; robbery, 136; rape, 61; murder, 24; homicide, 10; carnapping, 1; and motornapping, 16.

Ebreo said the eight focus crimes in all 10 police stations also decreased.

Non-index crimes also decreased by 5.63 percent or 128 cases, from 2,274 cases in 2017 to 2,146 incidents in 2018.

Under the non-index crimes, reckless imprudence resulting in homicide reached to 42 cases last year from 20 incidents in 2017, with an increase of 22 cases of 110 percent.

A total of 499 reckless imprudence resulting in physical injury cases were recorded in 2018 compared to the 234 incidents in 2017, with an increase of 265 cases or 113 percent.

Cases on reckless imprudence resulting in damage to properties reached to 439 last year from 565 incidents in 2017, with a reduction of 126 cases or 22.30 percent.

For police initiated operations, 922 operations were conducted last year, an increase of 356 operations or 62.90 percent from 566 operations in 2017.

For the average monthly crime rate, crimes reduced by 17.12 percent from 48.82 in 2017 to 40.46 in 2018.

Ebreo said the anti-criminality campaign of the BCPO contributed to the reduction of crimes in the city.

He said their Enhanced Managing Police Operations conference twice a week helped them determine and assess the occurrence of crimes in every area in the city.

“We deploy beat patrols in areas which need police presence in order to prevent crimes,” he added.

The intervention of the station commanders and the cooperation of the community are also considered to be factors in the crime reduction, Ebreo said. (GYM)