Metro Manila is now a safer place compared to last year, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said yesterday.
He said the relentless anti-crime efforts of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) resulted in a significant decrease in crimes in the metropolis over the past seven months.
Speaking at the NCRPO’s observance of the Philippine National Police’s 24th founding anniversary, Roxas said “the NCRPO achieved the feat as a result of its perseverance, dedication, professionalism and service to the public.”
The NCRPO has been rating the performance of its five district directors and 38 station commanders since June last year after the crime rate went up and was pegged at 1,200 incidents of theft, robbery, car theft and “motorcycle-napping” a week.
The crime rate went down to 577 incidents per week, then to 522 and 436 last week, Roxas said.
He said the accomplishment was hard to achieve because “week after week, police officials had to learn from their mistakes of the preceding week to strengthen their efforts.”
He said the Northern Police District recorded 73 unresolved cases per week in the first half of 2014 but these were reduced to 42 last week.
The Eastern Police District reported 110 cases per week that went down to 81, also last week.
The Manila Police District reported 220 crimes per week last year, which dropped to 97; the Southern Police District, 222 to 75, Roxas said.
He said the Quezon City Police District previously recorded 270 cases per week, but the number declined to 141.
Based on the statistics, Roxas said Metro Manila is now a safer place than last year.
“We owe the men and women in uniforms. All the support, the resources, the effort so that when you do your part, the rest of the government also does its part,” he told police officers. – Non Alquitran
