For the first time in years, the Catanduanes Provincial Police Office has recorded a sizeable decrease in incidents involving all but two index crime categories in 2020, leading to a total 32 percent decline compared to the previous year.
In the 2020 Annual Accomplishment Report submitted by Police Provincial Director Col. Brian Castillo to the regional headquarters, a copy of which was obtained by the Tribune, the total index crime volume for last year came up to only 102 incidents, a reduction of 48 from 2019’s 150 cases.
Index crimes refer to crimes against persons such as murder, parricide, infanticide, homicide, rape, rape with homicide, kidnapping with homicide, kidnapping with rape, serious and less serious physical injury, and carnapping wherein the occupant is either killed and/or raped. It also includes crimes against property such as robbery, robbery with homicide, robbery with rape, robbery with serious physical injury, robbery with arson, robbery in band, qualified and plain theft, carnapping of motor vehicle, carnapping of motorcycle, carnapping wherein the occupant is killed and/or raped in the motor vehicle, and arson with homicide.
Only 29 rape incidents were logged in the 11 police stations for 2020, a 32% decrease from 2019’s 43 cases while there was not a single rape with homicide case, compared to one in 2019.
In 2020, there were seven murders (11 in 2019) and four homicides (8 in 2019), while the number of physical injury cases fell by half from 30 in 2019 to just 15 last year.
Robbery incidents slid by nearly two-thirds from 29 in 2019 to just 10 last year, while there was no robbery with homicide in 2020 whereas there was one a year earlier.
However, theft cases rose by 30% from 26 to 34 while cases involving carnapped motorcycles tripled from one in 2019 to three in 2020.
Overall, the report stated, crime incidents in Catanduanes increased by 12% to 1,155 in 2020, but a third of the total involved violations of pandemic quarantine guidelines such as resisting arrest, violation of health protocols and violation of the Price Control Act.
If the 350 quarantine violations are not considered, the total crime incidents would just be 805, which is a decrease of 21% compared to the 1,029 recorded in 2019.
The same report said that the local police’s Crime Solution Efficiency (CSE) fell by 8% from 85.23% in 2019 to 77.23% in 2020 but the Crime Clearance Efficiency (CCE) slightly increased to 97.58%.
On the other hand, vehicular incidents and other quasi-offenses resulting from traffic incidents shrank from 287 a year earlier to just 186 in 2020, or a reduction of 35%.
Although eight people were killed in vehicle crashes last year compared to nine in 2020, the number of those injured slid from 154 to just 98 while those resulting to damage to property fell from 124 to just 80 cases.
In the campaign against illegal drugs, the Catanduanes police conducted 30 operations last year, resulting in the arrest of 30 persons and the recovery or confiscation of 353 grams of shabu and 2.5 grams of marijuana. Virac accounted for 20 of those arrested and nearly 60 percent of the seized drugs.
Eight firearms and five persons were arrested in the campaign against loose firearms, which likewise led to the surrender of 26 more guns whose licenses had expired.
A total of 257 wanted persons were apprehended to face pending cases in the local courts, including four Provincial Most Wanted Persons and 17 Municipal Most Wanted Persons.
The local police conducted 45 operations against illegal gambling in 2020, arresting 113 persons and confiscating a total of P12,624.75.
Ninety-nine persons were caught engaging in illegal fishing, with the police confiscating 12 motorized bancas, 10 air compressors and 473 kilos of marine products, including smuggled crablets.
In the campaign against illegal logging, 44 persons were collared in 22 operations that also yielded in the confiscation of four chainsaws and 7,309 board feet of undocumented lumber worth P324,255.55. In addition, the police also confiscated two chainsaws and 86 pieces of coconut lumber in three separate operations in Virac and San Andres.