Crime rate dropped 47% during quarantine months —JTF COVID Shield

There is a 47% drop in the number of crimes committed nationwide in the six months that quarantine protocols were implemented amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Joint Task Force COVID Shield reported on Friday.

In a statement, Joint Task Force COVID Shield commander Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar said that 16,879 criminal incidents were recorded from March 17 to September 16 under the "Eight Focus Crimes" of the Philippine National Police (PNP)

The number is less than the 31,661 incidents recorded from September 15, 2019 to March 16, 2020.

This decline of crime incidents is equivalent to an average of 92 cases per day in six months or 184 days of the community quarantine period, as compared to 172 cases per day in six months prior to the quarantine period.

"We have been conducting analysis of the crime situation in the past six months in order to identify the best practices and security adjustments that we could replicate in other areas and eventually institutionalized in order to sustain this momentum,” Eleazar said.

In coordination with the PNP headed by Police Lieutenant General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan, Eleazar said all police commanders have been ordered to maintain police visibility and to constantly coordinate with barangay officials to intensify peace and order in the community level.

The Eight Focus Crime of the PNP consists of Murder, Homicide, Physical Injury, Rape, Robbery, Theft, Carnapping of Motorcyles and Carnapping of Vehicles.

Eleazar said during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), the criminal incidents were reduced by 61% across the country.

Decline in robbery, carnapping of vehicles, motorcycles

Eleazar said there is a significant decrease in Crimes Against Property despite the economic difficulties posed by the pandemic.

A 61% decline was recorded for robbery, or only 1,867 cases from 4,807 cases from September 15, 2019 to March 16, 2020. Theft cases meanwhile had a 60% decrease from 10,553 to only 4,228.

"The big decrease in cases of robbery and theft, along with zero report of looting, refutes speculations before that there would be an upsurge on crime against property and looting due to economic difficulties," Eleazar said.

Carnapping of motorcycles also went down by 66% during the six-month quarantine period to only 693 from 2,013. It was the biggest decline recorded among the Eight Focus Crimes.

Carnapping of vehicles also went down by 61% to merely 86 from 218.

Reported increase in rape, murder cases untrue

Eleazar also belied reports that murder and rape became rampant during the six-month quarantine period, citing JTF COVID Shield data.

According to the data, cases of murder went down by 22% from 3,197 during the six-month pre-quarantine period to 2,509 during the six-month quarantine period.

Rape cases on the other hand went down by 24%, or 3,446 cases from 4,580.

Homicide cases also decreased by 25%, or from 819 to 612, while physical injury cases went down by 38%, or from 5,474 to 3,418.

According to Eleazar, Visayas had the biggest decline in crime incidents with 50% reduction, or from 8,116 to 4,035.

This means that 22 criminal incidents were recorded per day, as compared to 44 cases recorded during the six-month pre-quarantine period.

For Luzon, the average daily crime was reduced from 91 per day to 49 per day, or a 46% decrease based on the recorded figure that there were 16,781 cases recorded during the pre-quarantine period to 9,046 during the quarantine period.

Mindanao had a 44% decline, or 3,798 cases from 6,764 cases, or an average of 21 crimes a day compared to 37 per day prior.

"We would like to point out that the criminal incidents have been consistently declining in the past four years, or since our Commander-In-Chief Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte assumed the presidency in July 2016,” Eleazar said. —KBK, GMA News