Personnel under the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A top official of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) said they need logistical support from the local government to help improve crime response.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for administration of the CCPO, said during a media forum that additional vehicles, particularly motorcycles, would help the force respond to crime faster and also improve police visibility in the city, which is important now that restrictions due to COVID-19 have been eased and face-to-face classes are set to begin in August.
Parilla said they are anticipating an increase in crime such as theft with things slowly getting back to normal. Hence, additional motorcycle units for all the police stations will be a huge help to fight against these crimes.
“Mas paspas ang atoang response if we have those motorcycles,” he said.
(Our response will be faster if we have those motorcycles.)
Parilla said they would need at least 20 additional motorcycles intended for personnel of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and at least two per station here. Cebu City has a total of 11 police stations.
“One of the things that we have focused on is putting back our motorcycle patrol. As of now, medyo daan daan na jod ang atoang mga motorcycles,” Parilla said.
Meanwhile, the CCPO said it recorded a total of eight crimes in Cebu City from July 10 to 16, 2022. These includes physical injuries, murder, theft, and robbery.
This, accordingly, is 50-percent lower compared to the 19 crime incidents they recorded the previous week.
CCPO conducts a weekly oversight meeting to check on the crime data per station. Parilla said that this has helped them identify which areas have the highest number of crime incidents and which needs focus on police deployment.
So far, Parilla said that they noticed an increase in theft incidents in the Barangay Mabolo area. However, he assured the public that this is not alarming as this remains minimal with at least two to three theft incidents only.
/bmjo
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