CAGAYAN DE ORO, PHILIPPINES — On Monday, July 25, Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO) held a press conference addressing the highly-publicized crimes in the city. Police Lt. Col. Surki Sereñas, COCPO deputy director for operations, reports that the city has a “low crime rate” and denies there is a crime surge.
During the event, Lt Sereñas reported that incidences of weekly criminal incidents had decreased from 10 to eight instead of increasing.
“Yes! There have been highly-publicized crimes in Cagayan de Oro City recently, but the truth is, there is no crime surge. Our weekly average crime incident in the city decreased from 10 to eight. This is way lower compared to the crime incidents in other highly urbanized cities,” Sereñas said.
“The city is still very safe and there is no cause for alarm. The recent crimes that happened in the city are in no way connected,” the deputy director added.
Through proactive deployment and intelligence activities, Sereñas claimed they are tripling their efforts to prevent crime.
“If we haven’t stopped it, we’ll look into it and find a solution,” he said.
Ninety-eight percent of the city’s total index crime from January to July of this year was either cleared or solved, according to Sereñas, despite difficulties with personnel and mobility resources.
On Saturday, July 23, the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office top brass, Mayor Rolando Uy, a few councilors, and the Regulatory Compliance Board (RCB) kept an eye on the commercial businesses on Corrales Ave.
The owners and personnel of establishments were also reminded about their responsibilities in helping the city government uphold the rule of law.
See statement by Sereñas below:
RESIDENTS CONFLICTED
Following a string of violent crimes in which people were killed, Sereñas acknowledged that there were several complaints made against the local police via social media.
Sereñas urged the public to send complaints to the National Police Commission (Napolcom), People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB), Regional Internal Affairs Service (RIAS), Ombudsman, and Commission of Human Rights instead of spreading unverified information over social media.
“These offices will be more than willing to assist you because it is their job to remove rogue police officers from the service,” Sereñas said.
POLICE AUXILIARY IN CDO
Uy said at a news conference held at the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office that each police auxiliary squad would have 20 personnel and be assigned to one of the city’s ten police stations on July 25.
“Matag presinto dugangan nako’g 20 ka personahe aron makatabang sa kapulisan sa matag presinto,” Uy said.
“Dili lang krimen ang tutokan kundi mismo tanan, apil na ang droga,” Mayor Uy added.
The police and municipal administration have urged the locals to be watchful and contribute to keeping the peace and order to create a peaceful and crime-free environment.
To stay updated with the local police, visit the COCPO Facebook page. —WhatALife!/Brix
Also read: CdeO reported 12 new COVID-19 cases; active cases at 73
Leave a Reply