NCRPO: Crimes in 5 ‘focus areas’ down by half

MANILA, Philippines - Street crimes in five “focus areas” in Metro Manila have dropped by more than 50 percent in the past seven months,  National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Carmelo Valmoria said yesterday.

He said the focus areas were established in July last year, when crimes in these “places of convergence” were recorded at an all-time high of 30 to 40 per month.

Baclaran in Parañaque City, Cubao in Quezon City, Monumento in Caloocan City, Kalentong in Mandaluyong City and University Belt in Manila were identified as focus areas under Valmoria’s predecessor, Director Marcelo Garbo.

During the past week alone, these areas registered zero or one crime, Valmoria said, but did not release a breakdown of the crime statistics for the seven-month period.

He said he is confident that the crime statistics forwarded to him by the five police districts in Metro Manila are accurate as the NCRPO and Camp Crame inspectors are auditing the reports.

According to Valmoria, the 38 police stations would be asked to identify their own focus areas in the next few days for the police commanders to clear their jurisdictions of street crimes.

“We will move from the most crime-prone areas to the lesser ones until we could cover the whole of Metro Manila and attain our target to reduce street crimes by next year,” said Valmoria.