The Quezon City government and police laments that the city’s law enforcement units is “undermanned,” as the Philippine National Police recently reported the city has the highest crime incidence in Metro Manila for the first three months of the year.
In a statement, the city government has admitted that the city’s “anticrime capability” needs bulking up, what with the police-citizen ratio currently being 1:964. The ideal ratio is at least 1:500.
But in an interview, QCPD director Chief Superintendent George Regis said this did not deter their “crime solution efficiency.”
“All police districts in Metro Manila are undermanned. But the Quezon City government has been very helpful to us, providing us patrol cars, equipment” and augmentation forces in the form of city hall and barangay personnel.
“Records would show that crime incidence is continually decreasing here,” he added. The only crime that saw an increase in the city since the year began was car theft.
In a statement, Regis assured the public they were doing their best to “strengthen operations against crime syndicates specializing in bloody carnapping in the city.”
He welcomed the National Bureau of Investigation probe into the brazen carjacking-slay of government employee Teresita Teaño on June 15 in Kamuning.
Some progress has been made with Teaño’s killer being identified. “The suspects belong to a big group and we are hopeful that we can arrest and charge them soon,” Regis said.
On the night of June 14, another woman, Sheryl Sarmiento, was shot dead in front of a mall. Regis appealed for more time to investigate the case.
The city government, meanwhile, expressed hopes that car theft cases will be cut down by next year with the implementation of the “No CCTV, no business permit” policy.