MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/3 Feb) – Local legislators here were shocked of the city’s crime volume that almost doubled from 2009 to 2010.
According to the report of Supt. Erwin Bayani O. Meneses, the city’s police chief, submitted to the city council last week, total crime cases rose to 1,639 in 2010 from 853 cases the year before, or a 92-percent increase.
City Councilor Roland Deticio said the crime rate is “alarming.”
Based on Meneses’s estimate of the crime clock, there is a crime committed in the city every five hours. Last year it was one crime in every 10 hours.
Theft was the leading crime, with 521 cases for the year compared to 142 in 2009, or almost three times as much.
Robbery is also on the rise, from 119 cases in 2009 to 304 last year, or more than double.
Physical injury increased from 234 to 337 cases, murder from 14 to 24 cases, and homicide from 5 to 17 cases.
Meneses reported that the average monthly crime rate (AMCR) has also increased by 48 percent.
While the crime rate went up, the police’s crime solution efficiency (CSE) went down from 67 percentage in 2009 to 36 percentage in 2010.
Meneses blamed the increase of crime volume “possibly” to the rapid population growth rate and the influx of marginalized people coming to the city.
“People also seemed to have little or no respect at all to the rights of others and of their properties and thus perform nefarious activities,” he said.
Meneses stressed that the main problems faced by the police force include lack of personnel, mobility, and communication such as mobile radio transceivers.
Vice Mayor Victor Aldeguer told MindaNews they have tasked the Committee on Peace and Order to facilitate the consolidation of recommendations to address the problem.
Councilor Perla Rubio asked Meneses to formalize their requests to the city government for the augmentation of their resources to combat crime.
When asked by Councilor Jay Warren R. Pabillaran regarding their preparation for the Kaamulan Festival, Meneses said they might ask the council to enact a resolution authorizing them to frisk “very suspicious characters”.
He said the PNP’s efforts can be improved if the community in general will exhibit “willful cooperation to prevent, suppress and deter crimes”. (Walter I. Balane / MindaNews)
