BY MA. THERESA LADIAO
ILOILO City – The crime rate in Western Visayas has dropped by 13.63 percent from July to September this year, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) reported.
In a press briefing yesterday, September 30, Police Brigadier General Jack Wanky, director of PRO-6, presented a comparison of crime statistics from July 1 to September 20, 2024 against the same period in 2023.
“This 2024 [July 1 to September 20], we recorded 2,249 crime incidents compared to 2,604 in the same period in 2023, reflecting a decrease of 355 incidents or 13.63 percent,” Wanky said.
PRO-6 data showed that the index crimes dropped to 453 incidents this year from 573 in 2023 while non-index (less serious) crimes fell from 2,026 in 2023 to 1,796 in 2024.
Wanky also highlighted a positive trend in the region’s eight focus crimes comprising murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, motor vehicle theft, and motorcycle theft. It decreased to 452 from 576 cases in 2023.
The PRO-6 director attributed the drop to the region’s cops ongoing efforts to combat illegal activities, the effective tracking of wanted individuals, strategic personnel deployment, and the continuous conduct of enhanced managing police operations.
“Despite these improvements, we are committed to enhancing our approaches and programs to further ensure peace and order in the region,” Wanky added./PN
