EDSA-Shaw no longer pickpocket haven – EPD

MANILA, Philippines - The intersection of EDSA and Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City is no longer a haven of pickpockets, officials said yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Miguel Laurel, director of the Eastern Police District (EPD), said they recorded at least 33 cases involving pickpockets in the area from October to December last year, prompting them to declare it as a “focus area.”

“There is a large influx of shoppers in the corner of EDSA and Shaw Boulevard... We concentrated our security efforts in the area this year,” Laurel said in an interview.

He said the Mandaluyong City police arrested a total of eight suspected pickpockets at the EDSA-Shaw Boulevard area since Jan. 1.

According to Laurel, he deployed at least 35 police officers on motorcycles to arrest pickpockets.

He said uniformed policemen were also deployed in the area and EPD inspectors sent to check whether they were on duty.

Once found guilty for simple or serious neglect of duty, the erring policemen would be suspended without pay, he added.