THE Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has recorded a decrease of 35 percent in its total crime volume from January 1 to December 31, 2019.
Colonel Henry Biñas, director of BCPO, said on Tuesday, January 7, that 2019 was very challenging year for BCPO, but generally the city is peaceful.
He said the crimes declined by 1,004 from 2,836 in 2018 to 1,832 in 2019. Index crimes or crimes against person and property also declined by 41.88 percent from 628 in 2018 to 365 in 2019.
Biñas said there’s a significant decrease in the cases of theft from 260 cases in 2018 to 132 in 2019; robbery from 136 in 2018 to 77 in 2019; rape from 67 in 2018 to 53 in 2019; and motornapping from 16 in 2018 to six in 2019, but there’s also a slight increase in the cases of murder from 24 in 2018 to 31 in 2019, and homicide from 10 in 2018 to 14 in 2019.
He said most of the angles or motives in the murder cases were drug related. The non-index crimes or violations of special laws, also decreased by 33.56 percent from 2, 208 in 2018 to 1, 467 in 2019.
Biñas said in the campaign against illegal drugs, BCPO confiscated a total of 6, 083.026 grams of shabu with an estimated market value of P72,996,312, and 152.8139 grams of marijuana with an estimated market value of P35,147.20.
He said a total of 111 high value targets were arrested as well as 115 street-level targets, 20 minors, and 715 newly identified drug suspects, and they also filed a total of 1, 589 cases.
He added there’s also a significant decrease in the traffic related incidents or reckless imprudence from 981 cases in 2018 to 308 in 2019. Biñas noted that in the major events in Bacolod, there were no reported major incidents and the city was generally peaceful.
“BCPO was also awarded as Best City Police Office in 2019 and hopefully, we can retain that award. Rest assured that BCPO will be transparent in 2020,” Biñas said. He said this year, BCPO will still focus in the campaign against illegal drugs and other crimes.