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The Philippine National Police have just released its latest crime statistics.
Their numbers showed that the crime volume from January to June this year have dropped slightly compared to the crimes recorded over the same period in 2008 or from last year's 4,338 to this year?s 4,046.
Police officials have credited the drop to their anti-crime measures which include increase in police visibility, intensified intelligence monitoring and better coordination with business establishments on security concerns.
Cebu City has higher crime volume at 1,307 compared to other towns and cities in Central Visayas because it is an urban center.
Police officials also explain that Cebu City residents have better access to loose firearms than those living in the provinces. Easy accessibility to firearms was a significant factor in high crime incidence, they said.
This explains why Cebu City has the highest number of theft cases at 421 and robbery cases at 216 in Central Visayas during the first half of 2009.
The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) has recorded 22,618 unregistered firearms in region seven. But a program has been implemented to enforce firearm registration and responsible gun ownership.
The slight decline in the crime volume may not matter to friends and family of Fr. Jovencio Rabusa, who was killed by young thugs who happened to own an unlicensed firearm last Monday.
Criminals do not bother to have their firearms registered. Most of them use homemade guns which they can throw away if they feel that the law enforcers are closing in.
But the police should go beyond the statistics because these are just numbers.
The drop in the crime volume may be taken that fewer crimes happened in Central Visayas during the first half of this year.
But it can also be taken another way: the victims and their families have become so jaded that they don't report the crimes committed against them, believing that they won?t get any justice.
And this is something the police should prevent: residents who don?t believe in the capability of their own law enforcers.
To achieve this is not impossible. It just needs diligence, perseverance and very good intelligence and evidence gathering.
The policemen should not be satisfied with the arrest of the perpetrators and then put a stamp on the case folder as ?solved.?
They should remember the victims don?t just clamor for the arrest of the suspects.
They also want to see the perpetrators convicted in court and put behind bars to serve their sentence.
When that happens, the victims can now smile because justice has been served.
