Last week the Police Regional Office-7 ordered city directors and police station chiefs to know the crime clock in their respective areas to effectively combat crime.
Acting CCPO director Supt. Melvin Gayotin told reporters that petty crimes usually occur between 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. because this is when most of the students and employees are tired and more focused on going home.
According to the crime clock armed robberies more frequently occur on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, especially during paydays. Snatching of bags was reported common every Sundays, Mondays and Saturdays while jewelry snatching usually occurs every Sundays and Thursdays. Pickpockets were also noted more frequent during Tuesdays, Mondays and Saturdays.
The police are still upgrading their records of identified crime-prone areas after they observed robbers do not stay in one place anymore. They admitted they cannot cover all the areas of jurisdiction because of the lack of personnel and other resources, but vowed they are doing their best.
Meanwhile, PRO-7 director C/Supt. Silverio Alarcio said policemen assigned as secret marshals on jeepneys are provided with money for jeepney fare and drivers need not worry that they will cut into their income.
Alarcio warned drivers that those who identify themselves as marshals but do not pay the fare are not marshals at all but people just taking advantage of the situation. He also asked drivers to take the names of policemen who refuse to pay their fare.
As another precaution against robbers, Mayor Tomas Osmeña called on drivers to follow the city ordinance requiring them to have blue emergency lights. These lights are to be place above the route numbers of jeepneys and above the occupied/vacant lights of taxis and can be switched on via a secret switch if the vehicle is being robbed.
In another development, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, who is also the chairwoman of the Regional Peace and Order Council, said that she will probably be requesting Alarcio for a report on the deployment of over 1,400 police personnel on field training presently deployed for Cebu for the upcoming 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit this December.
The governor specifically wants to find out the post assignments, shifts and orders that have been given to these Field Training Personnel, so that something can be done about FTPs standing in the corner of the streets doing nothing.
"It's really a huge waste of human resources and government time, not to mention opportunity lost, that we keep on thinking of the ASEAN as a time to be on artificial temporary mode. And in the meantime, magbarog-barog lang sa ta samtang kini na mga krimen," Garcia said.
She also said it is ironic that big crimes have happened in Metro Cebu these past few days when the policeman-to-citizen ratio is now ideal.
"Let us not wait for an international event to showcase what we have. Let's treat everyday as an opportunity to show that we are in fact ready for any international event. Let everyday be a dry run... And let us treat all Cebuanos and value them; regard them just as highly as any foreign delegate. Let's love ourselves first before we love our neighbors because this is what the Cebuanos deserve," she added. - Edwin Ian Melecio with Joeberth M. Ocao and Cristina C. Birondo/BRP