Drop in crime volume

Riza Faith N. Narciso

THERE has been a notable decrease of 39.59 percent in the total eight focus crimes for the year 2020 compared to 2019 due to the implementation of the community quarantine across the country amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

The eight focus crimes include murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, theft, vehicle theft, motorcycle theft, and rape.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said downtrend in the crime volume for the succeeding months can be attributed as people adapted to the new normal and observed quarantine-related protocols.

The national Total Crime Volume dropped by 39.51 percent -- from 68,214 cases in 2019 to 41,269 cases in 2020. On eight focus crimes, theft has the largest decrease by almost 50 percent.

The PNP said the number of index crimes decreased by 39.39 percent in 2020 compared to 2019 while there was a slight increase of non-index crimes by 1.43 percent due to the upsurge in the occurrence of quarantine violations from March to April.

Index crimes are serious crimes such as murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, rape, theft, and carjacking, while the non-index crimes are violations of local ordinances and laws and vehicular accidents.

The increase was also attributed to the intensified campaign against illegal drugs. The PNP attributed the drop of crimes committed to the implementation of enhanced community quarantine, which limited the movement of the people.

Meanwhile, the crime clearance efficiency for 2020 improved as compared to the previous year and it can be attributed to the improved templates in suspect identification and constant monitoring and follow up of cases by investigators despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.