NOTE: THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE BOHOL CHRONICLE’S SUNDAY PRINT EDITION.
Total crime incidents in Bohol from January to September this year slumped to a good 22.21% compared to the same period last year, Camp Dagohoy reports.
During the recent joint Provincial Peace and Order (PPOC) and Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) meeting online September 21, 2020, Camp Francisco Dagohoy through Operations Officer Police Major Norman Nuez revealed that from 7,145 total crimes in 2019, it dove to 5,558 in 2020.
The 1,587 crime that were staved off this year could be the effect of the stay-at-home mandates and the implementation of the quarantine checkpoints, muses Camp Dagohoy Chief, Police Colonel JoselitoClarito, during the same meeting attended by 18 of the 33 members of the PPOC.
The 5,558 crimes still comprise the peace and order and public safety incidents recorded in the first nine months of the year when the public health emergency has limited people’s movements and strewn police officers in the roads where quarantine control points have been set up.
Of the same total crimes in 2020, total peace and order incidents reached 3,910 while the total public safety incidents recorded in police blotters across the province reached 1,648.
Meanwhile in 2019, total crime incidents reached 7,145 which is basically the sum of 4,602 incidents threatening peace and order and 2,543 incidents affecting public safety, Major Nuez said.
On the 2020 peace and order incidents, crime statisticians at the Bohol police headquarters include 801 index crimes and 3,101 non index crimes.
As to the index crimes, police also noted a decrease of 53.26% from 1731 to 801 while for the non index crimes, from 2,871 in 2010, with police getting looser anti-crime issues with people in quarantine, the period also afforded police forces across the province ample time to do operations implementing special laws not covered by the Revised Penal Code.
This comfort has pushed police to accomplish more on anti-drugs, anti-illegal gambling and special laws enforcement with 230 more cases for an increase of 8.01%.
On non-index crimes, from 2871 cases in 2019, it soared to 3,101 in 2020.
In fact, for non-index crimes, especially in special laws implementation, from 1,671 in 2019, listed crimes spiked to 1966 in 2020, the 295 more cases figuring out in the 17.66% in police proactive drive against criminality.
In other non-index crimes, from 1,200 cases in 2019, it went down by 65 cases to 1,135, according to the Camp Dagohoy report.
The police pro-active accomplishment in crimes involving special laws include anti-illegal gambling from 159 cases to 288 (81%), illegal drugs from 400 to 507 (27%), anti-illegal logging from 22-26 (18%), violence against women and children from 561 to 584 (4%) and cybercrimes from 34 to 48 (41%).
The police pro-active fight against crimes may have stirred the downtrend in crimes here during the pandemic, but, as to the overall picture of the total peace and order incidents, from 4,602 in 2019, it still went down to 3,910 in 2020, Bohol police scoring a 15.04% dip in peace and order crimes.
Consistent to the drop in peace and order crime incidents, the police top 8 focused crimes show dramatic drops in theft from 802 to 299 or at 62%, robbery from 282 to 99 cases or a 65% drop and physical injuries from 453 to 239 or a 47% decrease.
Except for homicide which had one case more in 2020 at 10, rape which had each 78 cases in 2019 and 2020, and car-napping with each at one case, the rest of the focused crimes enjoyed downtrends with murder at 12% (52-46) and motor napping at 38% (54-33). (rahchiu/PIA-7/Bohol)