CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The crime volume in Region 10 or Northern Mindanao has dropped 32.5 percent year on year as police intensified its law enforcement operations and Operational Plan Double Barrel gained momentum.
Regional police spokesperson Police Chief Supt. Lemuel Gonda said the crime statistics show a drastic drop in crime volume.
“Our assessment points to the link and direct effect of the diminished presence of illegal drugs in the streets, as a result of the intensified anti-illegal drugs campaign,” Gonda said.
Data from the regional police office showed that 5,780 crimes were recorded in the first quarter of 2017, down from 6,250 crimes during the same period in 2016 and 10,307 crimes in 2015.
“Crime decreased by 32.5 percent compared to crime volume of 2015 and 3.71-percent decrease compared to the crime volume of 2016,” Gonda added.
Gonda said most of the prevalent crimes are usually drug-related cases like theft, robbery, physical injury, domestic violence, rape, and all forms of abuse.
“We were not surprised with the marked decrease in crime volume as stressed in the timeline,” Gonda said.
“Since January to March this year, there were 887 persons arrested in our intensified anti-illegal drugs campaign, wherein 64,039 households were revisited and 8,449 new households visited by our police stations, with 88 self-confessed drug users and eight drug pushers have voluntarily surrendered,” he added.
Regional Police Director Chief Supt. Agripino Javier directed the police to enforce the law and place lawless elements behind bars.
“I also directed all Provincial and City Police Offices to continuously conduct efficient campaign and advocacy by implementing a wide-ranging pro-active approach and strategy on the campaign against all forms of criminality in coordination with various law enforcement and other concerned government agencies,” Javier said.