Expect intensified police visibility in Lapu under Alert Level 1

LCPO director Police Colonel Arnel Banzon anticipates increase in crime incidents in Lapu-Lapu City under Alert Level 1.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — With Lapu-Lapu City placed under Alert Level 1 status from April 1-15, 2022, police in the city are preparing for the effects of a more eased classification.

Lapu-Lapu City was placed under Alert Level 1 after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Thursday, March 31, 2022, approved the April 1 to 15, 2022 Alert Level Classification of provinces, highly urbanized cities (HUCs), and independent component cities (ICCs)

READ: Alert Level Classification from April 1-15

With this, Police Colonel Arnel Banzon, chief of Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, said they will be realigning police deployment in the city to ensure that the peace and order situation will not be affected. 

This as Banzon expects a rise in theft and robbery incidents, and reports in physical injuries, considering the public’s increased mobility under a more relaxed classification.

“Mas mag open up na sya sa establishments, longer na ilang hours sa pag open. Mobalik na ang mga tourists nato. The more mag open up ang establishments, the more prone to crimes kay daghan naman maglaag-laag,” Banzon said.

(Establishments will be open, now for longer hours. Tourists are also expected to be back. The more establishments open up, the more we are prone to crimes because more people will be roaming around.)

Banzon also said he expects a rise in the number of physical injuries cases.

“Kay nahubog, nag away ug kanang theft mao nay gi expect nato nga musaka,” he added.

(Because there will be a lot more who will be drunk. That and theft are what we expect to rise.)

To counter this, Banzon said that they are planning to intensify  police visibility in the city, especially during nighttime.  They will also continue to monitor for compliance to health protocols such as the wearing of face masks.

Banzon said that they considere this as a challenge on their part as they would want to maintain the low crime incidents they recorded for the past two years.

READ: Lapu-Lapu cop chief links strict quarantine measures to drop in crime volume 

 Although Banzon said that Lapu-Lapu City has enough personnel to secure the city, he still appeals to the public to be extra careful when going out and continue to observe health protocols to avoid an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, which would mean  going back to more stricter restrictions.

/bmjo