LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, July 16 (PNA) -— A total of 265 robbery incidents and 1,356 theft incidents were recorded in rhe province by the Pangasinan police provincial office (PPPO) from January to June this year.
Supt. Ferdinand De Asis, PPPO police information officer, said this was reported in the command conference held with the chiefs of police of the 48 towns and cities of the province.
De Asis revealed that Dagupan City has the most number of robbery incidents with 65 followed by Mangaldan with 26 and San Carlos City with 21.
He explained that robbery is a crime committed by taking something forcibly whereas theft is committed without force such as the modus operandi in “budol- budol”, “salisi” and the crimes against property like stealing parked motorcycles or bicycles.
De Asis said Dagupan City and San Carlos City also topped the most number of theft incidents.
“We believe this is because cities have more population and business establishments”, said De Asis.
Furthermore, De Asis said the chiefs of police were mandated to strengthen security within their jurisdictions by establishing neighborhood night watchers, and coordinating with barangay officials and residents.
“The maintenance of peace and security is a shared responsibility of the police and the citizens”, said De Asis.
Meanwhile, Supt. Jackie Candelario, chief of police of Mangaldan, said the recorded incidents in the town were mostly solved and new security measures were implemented.
He said seminars on security awareness for school and bank and financial institutions in the town were conducted alongside the conduct of intensified patrolling.
“We are going to train the barangay peace keeping action teams (BPATS) for crime prevention as well as for rescue purposes especially during this disaster month”, said Candelario.
On the other hand, Supt. Christopher Abrahano, chief of Dagupan City police station (DCPS) said although the city has the most numbe of theft incidents, these already essentially declined as compared to the 105 incidents for the same period last year.
“We have stepped up our campaign and actions against robbery and theft incidents that’s why the number actually decreased by almost 50 percent”, said Abrahano. (PNA)