Brig. Gen. Romano Cardiño*
More than P211 million worth of suspected illegal drugs and smuggled cigarettes were seized while 1,161 wanted persons were arrested during the first 100 days of Brig. Gen. Romano Cardiño as director of the Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region.
PRO-NIR said its operations from May 8 to Aug. 16 yielded about P136.01 million worth of suspected illegal drugs and P75.47 million worth of allegedly smuggled cigarettes, for a combined estimated value of P211.48 million.
Police conducted 761 anti-drug operations during the period, resulting in the arrest of 822 persons and the confiscation of 19,975.81 grams, or nearly 20 kilograms, of suspected shabu and 1,422 grams of marijuana.
The seized drugs had a combined estimated standard drug price of P136,008,568.
PRO-NIR also reported 526 operations against cigarette smuggling, which led to the arrest of 25 persons and the seizure of cigarettes valued at approximately P75,474,610.
Meanwhile, 1,161 wanted persons were arrested during the 100-day period, including 269 classified as wanted persons and 892 other wanted individuals.
The regional police also conducted 503 operations against loose firearms, including 28 implementations of search warrants.
These resulted in the confiscation of 255 firearms, the surrender of another 264 unlicensed firearms and the arrest of 92 individuals.
In its campaign against illegal gambling, PRO-NIR conducted 362 operations that resulted in 808 arrests and the confiscation of P152,935 in alleged gambling proceeds.
Police also recorded 81,137 enforcement actions involving violations of local ordinances, with 31,433 violators fined and 49,704 warned.
The regional police said the intensified operations coincided with an 11.83 percent decline in total crime incidents compared with the preceding 100-day period.
Total crime incidents dropped by 296, from 2,502 cases recorded from Jan. 27 to May 7 to 2,206 from May 8 to Aug. 16.
The Peace and Order Indicator declined by 5.48 percent, from 1,917 incidents to 1,812.
Index crimes fell by 19.19 percent, from 297 to 240 incidents.
Among the eight focus crimes, homicide recorded the largest percentage decrease at 46.34 percent, followed by physical injury at 38.24 percent, motorcycle carnapping at 38.46 percent, murder at 24.39 percent and theft at 7.02 percent.
Overall, the eight focus crimes declined by 19.59 percent, from 296 to 238 incidents.
The Public Safety Indicator also dropped by 32.65 percent, equivalent to 191 fewer incidents, with police citing decreases in damage to property, physical injuries and deaths arising from vehicular incidents.
Not all crime categories improved during the period, however.
PRO-NIR reported that rape incidents increased by 6.82 percent, while robbery cases rose by 13.64 percent, which police said would require continued prevention, investigation and community-based interventions.
Another initiative launched under Cardiño was the SAFE NIR Dial 911 program on June 4.
PRO-NIR said the emergency response program received 364 calls from its launch until Aug. 16, with police responses resulting in 53 arrests.
Cardiño said the figures would be used to determine which police interventions are working and where additional attention is needed.
PRO-NIR said it also focused during the period on personnel training, body-worn cameras, information technology, logistics, organizational reforms and preparations for ISO 9001 certification.
Cardiño assumed leadership of the newly established regional police office on May 8, with PRO-NIR now covering Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Siquijor and the highly urbanized Bacolod City.*
[sibwp_form id=1]