EDITORIAL - Curbing street crimes

There will always be crimes, no matter how efficient the law enforcement. The impoverished in particular are vulnerable to the appeal of resorting to thievery for survival. Other crimes such as drug trafficking and kidnapping for ransom offer such huge profits that even the threat of summary execution cannot serve as a foolproof deterrent.

Efficient law enforcement, however, can reduce criminality. So it’s a cause for concern when there are reports of a spike in cases of ransom kidnapping, for example, or when more people report that they fell victim to common crimes.

This was the case in the second half of 2018, according to the fourth quarter survey conducted by pollster Social Weather Stations Inc. from Dec. 16 to 19. The SWS survey showed about 1.8 million Filipinos or 7.6 percent of Filipino families reporting at least one member who fell victim to common crimes from July to December 2018. This was higher than the 5.3 percent or 1.2 million in the first half of 2018, and the 6.1 percent of 1.4 million from April to September.

Common crimes include physical violence as well as those against property such as muggings, pickpocketing, burglary and carjacking. The SWS survey showed that street robberies accounted for the largest increase, from 4.6 percent or 1.1 million from April to September 2018 to 5.2 percent or 1.2 million in the second half of last year. Fear of being victimized by common criminals also rose by nine points to 61 percent in the last quarter from the 52 percent in September.

The survey results will have to be reconciled with the crime statistics gathered by the Philippine National Police, which showed the number of crimes going down in 2018. Even PNP officials, however, acknowledged that this could be due to the inability or unwillingness of crime victims to report their cases to the police. The SWS said its victimization figures were usually higher than the cases reported to the PNP.

Underreporting can be attributed to the lack of confidence that a crime can be solved – that the perpetrator will be caught and punished and the stolen item returned to the owner. It is also due to the thought that the hassle of trying to get justice simply isn’t worth it. Survey results indicate a different crime situation, and the challenges that must be addressed by law enforcers in keeping the public safe.