CRIME in Cebu City dropped by 50 percent after the city was placed under general community quarantine on March 15, 2020, by Mayor Edgar Labella.

The only major crime the police listed was murder and the police think the crime percentage will drop further in the next few days.

Police Colonel Engelbert Soriano, the Acting Chief of the Cebu City Police Office, credits the drop in crime to the presence of police manning health checkpoints and the imposition of a general curfew for Cebu City.

Based on the data from their operations branch, CCPO tallied six cases of robbery from March 2 to 14, but since March 15, when CCPO deployed its personnel to man the checkpoints, CCPO only registered three.

There was also no case of carnapping during the same period, compared to the two listed on March 2 to 14, while the police also saw a 40 percent drop in robbery cases. However, there was no significant change in cases of physical injuries, which usually involves intoxicated individuals.

“I think it’s a major factor that we have heightened police visibility,” Col. Soriano said in Tagalog. “It also helps that people are going home early and businesses are closing early.”

However, Soriano is cautioning the public to be wary of individuals posing as members of the Department of Health who will disinfect their houses as these are not allowed. He is also requesting the barangay officials to help monitor such cases to avoid their constituents from getting victimized. (AYB / ML)