5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CRIMES IN BAGUIO

Crime is an action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law. It can also be an illegal activity or an action that is considered evil, shameful, or wrong.

Crimes are present in various forms in Baguio City. They are divided into two: 1) Index Crimes, composed of (a) crimes against persons (Homicide, Murder, Physical Injuries and Rape) and (b) crimes against property (Robbery, Theft, Carnapping and Cattle Rustling) and 2) Non-Index Crimes which consists of (a) Violation of Special Laws and (b) Other non-index crimes.

Out of these categories, there are 5 things we need to know about the Index Crimes in Baguio City.

1. There are 3 Most Prevalent Crimes in Baguio City. Out of eight index crimes, the 3 most prevalent crimes for the period January to June  2013 and 2014 as recorded are:

	CY 2013	CY 2014	TOTAL
1.    Theft	2,528	2,069	4,597
2.    Physical Injuries	2,519	2007	4,526
3.    Robbery	628	514	1,142

2. Theft has modus operandi. As the constant challenge to be addressed by the law enforcers in the city, they need to identify the perpetrators behind the incidents of Theft. That led to breaking down of Theft into modes of commission, knowing that not all modus operandi is executed by the same criminal group.

In Baguio City, Pickpocket, Salisi (establishment) and Salisi (Akyat-bahay) are the 3 most committed modus of Theft.

 

3. Victims are identified. From the collated data of Baguio City Police Office (BCPO), most victims of Pickpocket are from ages 16 – 32 years old.  32% are students,  12% were from unidentified victims, 6% were housewives and the rest were distributed to different group of victims.

4. Pickpocket has time occurrence and location. Pickpocket is usually committed between 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon to 7:00 o’clock in the evening. These are the period of time where students are dismissed from their classes and committers of pickpocket are taking advantage of.

In Baguio City, the hotspots (location where pickpocket frequently occur) are at Session Road, AZCKO (Market Area), Upper Magsaysay, Kayang Hilltop, Harrison-Carantes Road, Legarda-Burnham-KIsad Road and Kabayanihan area.

5. Pickpocket can be avoided. Knowing those information, we can avoid being a victim. Students should be more vigilant of their belongings when passing through the areas mentioned at the given time. The same thing with those housewives going to the market area and with the rest of us.

Let us be aware that perpetrators of pickpocket have territories. They dwell on areas which are populated. They victimized unaware individuals. They attack at times where all are in a hurry, in laymen’s term, during “rush hours”. Time, location, opportunity and unaware individuals are the key factors in this modus operandi.

According to Jack Dangermond of Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), "Knowing where things are, and why, is essential to rational decision making”… and is also rational to our own movements… to our own actions…

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