Report: Cebu City’s crime rate up 22%

CEBU, Philippines - While Cebu City’s police director says that the crime rate in the city has gone down, official records of the Police Regional Office-7 shows otherwise.

Senior Superintendent Rey Lyndon Lawas, chief Regional Investigation and Detection Management Division said the city’s crime rate rose to 22 percent as compared to the same quarter last year.

In 2013, the Cebu City Police Office reported a total crime volume of 3,585 while this year it rose to 4,285 cases.

Lawas identified and classified the information presented and found out that out of the 4, 285 cases, 2,874 of them are index crimes. Index crimes are crimes against person and property like murder, physical injuries, theft and robbery.

Index crimes went up this year by 20 percent as compared to last year’s reported cases of 2,303.

Lawas also said that there is an increase in the cases of street crimes this year. Last year 819 cases were reported but this year increased to 909 cases. Lawas said the 25 percent increase in these crimes involves the use of firearms while they noted a 300 percent increase in crimes was committed by motorcycle riding criminals.

He urged the city and provincial directors including the station commanders to use the statistics in the deployment of their men.

He added that the statistics has a big bearing in the fight against criminal if used correctly.

Earlier, CCPO director, Senior Superintendent Noli Romana said that the city’s crime rate has gone down but said they discovered over 700 cases that were left unreported by Fuente police.

Lawas said that he is yet to receive Romana’s report that contains the corrected statistics. (FREEMAN)