DCPO records slight hike in crime volume

THE Davao City Police Office (DCPO) recorded a slight increase in the crime volume for the first quarter of this year compared to same period last year.

Based on the data gathered by the DCPO-Investigation and Detection Management Branch (DCPO-IDMB), DCPO tallied a total of 2,863 crime incidents, or a 5.25 percent increase compared to last year’s total of 2,689 in the first three months.

The increase in crime volume was attributed to the 13 percent increase in violations of special laws and city ordinances otherwise known as non-index crimes.

A total of 1,443 non-index crimes were recorded in DCPO compared to last year’s 1,255. Index crimes composed of crimes against persons and crimes against

property, on the other hand, decreased by 2.72 percent with 1,395 registered this year’s first quarter against 1,434 last year.

Crimes against property, meanwhile, made up the bulk of index crimes with a total of 901. Of the total, 645 were theft, 254 were robbery while two were carnapping incidents.

The breakdown of the 494 crimes against persons are 429 physical injuries, 36 murders, 15 homicides and 14 incidents of rape.

But, despite the increase in crime volume, DCPO had a significant increase in crimes solved and crimes cleared.

Crime solved refers to the incidents where cases have been filed against imprisoned suspects while crimes cleared pertains to incidents wherein suspects have been charged but are still at large.

Crimes solved increased by 66.23 percent with 1,386 incidents solved this year against last year’s 468, while crimes cleared hiked by 65.26 percent with 1,494 recorded this year compared to 519 last year.

“Positibo ni siya nga resulta nga nagpakita nga masagresibo ang atong kapulisan sa pagpatuman sa balaod. Makita pud nga naprevent ang mga index crimes from occuring (This is a positive result showing that the police force is aggressive in implementing the law. It also shows that we prevented index crimes from occurring),” DCPO director Sr. Supt. Ronald dela Rosa said in an interview.

Dela Rosa, however, said his men should not be lax after the positive turnout of the first quarter as they are aiming for a more peaceful Davao City.

“We will continue to strive harder and hopefully we could prevent more index crimes and tighten the implementation of city ordinances and special laws for a safer Davao City,” he said. RSA