NCRPO:‘Ber’ months crimes declining in Metro Manila

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sun, 01 Sep 2019 07:04:30 +0000

ELEAZAR

While netizens are going gaga in the social media on Jose Mari Chan with the start of the ber months, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) is no longer going loco on what to do over the usual uptrend on criminal incidents in the last four months of every year.

This is because of the consistent downtrend of crime rate, particularly on the so-called crime against property that include robbery and snatching, for the past three years, according to NCRPO director Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar.

While Filipinos are delighted to hear Jose Mari Chan’s “Christmas in our Hearts” the very first day of ber months which is September 1, Eleazar said criminal elements were equally excited in the past since the song also means “Christmas in our Pockets” for pickpockets, snatchers and robbers.

But not anymore, according to the NCRPO chief.

“Higher crime incidents during the ber months is now a myth in the National Capital Region,” said Eleazar.

“Since 2016, we have already reversed that trend. Partly, this can be attributed to more active police interventions and increased vigilance of our citizens during this period brought about by strong public awareness through the media,” he added.

Past NCRPO leaderships were usually pressured and scrambling to map out anti-crime strategies on the weeks leading to the start of ber months due to statistical data that the ber months is a start for the hunting season for criminals, particularly thieves.

But since 2016, Eleazar said they recorded an 11 percent decrease reduction in crime rate from September to December compared to the non-ber months of 2016.

There were 1,535 criminal incidents recorded in the ber months of 2016 but in 2017, Eleazar said that it was reduced to 1,339 or almost a 13 percent drop in crime rate.

In 2018, the ber months criminal cases were furt
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