Crime rate in Taguig City down 20%

The Taguig City police’s implementation of strong law enforcement programs is said to have resulted in a significant decrease in the city’s crime rate, and increased crime solution efficiency for year 2007.

According to Taguig police chief Alfred Sotto Corpus, overall crime volume for 2007 decreased to 723 incidents, or 26 percent or 257 lower than the 980 offenses recorded in 2006.

Crime solution efficiency, improved to 97 percent, up from 96 percent efficiency of the previous year.

The total crime numbers, Corpus said, include both index (364) and non-index (359) crimes. Index crimes include murder, homicide, rape, physical injuries, theft and robbery. Non-index crimes, on the other hand, are offenses subject to special laws such as violence against women.

Corpus attributed the improved statistics to the strong manpower resource and the intensified campaign against crime and lawlessness, jointly waged by the local government and police, complemented by effective intelligence operations.

The detailed report showed that the number for all types of index crimes decreased for the period under review. Physical injuries topped the list of index crimes, which was reduced to 113. Other incidents also indicated declining trends such as theft (93), robbery (74), rape (48), murder (21) and homicide (15).

Average monthly crime rate was likewise reduced to 9.64 percent, down by 5.06 from 14.7 in 2006.

Corpus hinted that the Taguig police’s accomplishment for 2007 included securing national events such as the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, the national and local elections, and concerts of international superstars Christina Aguilera and Beyonce Knowles at The Fort.

Special police operations also led to the successful rescue of hostages and the neutralization of hostage taker Almario Villegas during a hostage drama last year at the Taguig City Hall of Justice.

In the war against terrorism, the Taguig police also arrested the dreaded terrorist Sindadok Utto in February 2007. In August, they recovered and successfully disabled two improvised explosive devices found at the perimeter fence of the National Food Authority in the FTI Compound.

The report also showed that the highest number of index crimes was recorded in March and December, while most non-index crimes were committed in February and March last year. This is notwithstanding the local and national elections held in May and October 2007.

Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tiñga lauded the Taguig City police for their accomplishment.

“We give credit to our police force for keeping close watch on our city and for keeping peace and order in our communities. These numbers indicate that our campaign against crime and terrorism and is sound and effective,” Tiñga said.

He added, “Our local police must not feel complacent that our crime numbers are decreasing. If anything, this should be a challenge for them to keep our city always safe and crime free,” Tiñga said.