ANGELES CITY- Visibility of uniformed police with their newly bought fear-inspiring firearms has been credited for the drop of the crime rate in this city from six to four percent per 100,000 population.
Amid criticisms for his vehicle and arms purchases, Mayor Francis Nepomuceno justified yesterday his administration’s purchases of some 40 new vehicles costing about P50 million and “baby Armalites” costing some P4 million by citing improvement in local peace and order.
City administrator Irineo Alvaro said that 15 of the vehicles were turned over to the local police force while most of the locally manufactured firearms also went to the police.
City police director Senior Superintendent Pierre Bucsit said that since the vehicles and arms were turned over to police forces, crime rate decreased from six percent to only four percent per 100,000 population.
He said Angeles has a registered population of 700,000 although transients jack this up by another 700,000 at any time of the day or night.
Bucsit, however, noted that even the previous six percent was already lower than the national average of 13 percent, as well as the eight percent average in Central Luzon.
He said that a ratio of one cop per 800 population would be ideal, but with only 378 regular cops in this city, the ratio is about one per 1,800 population. The gap, he said, is filled in by police visibility through mobility in their new vehicles and their possession of high powered arms.
“Angeles has only five entry and exit points. What we did was to study which areas are most crime prone and identified Barangays Sto. Entierro and Balibago, so we concentrated our resources in these areas,” he noted.
Nepomuceno said that the vehicles turned over to the police included not only sedans and pick up vans, but also all-terrain vehicles or ATV and motorcycles to enable patrolling policemen to access narrow alleys.
Alvaro said that the other newly bought vehicles were turned over to other city officials “to give them dignity”.
“We don’t want them driving small, dilapidated cars that conk out on them during traffic,” he said, insisting that none of the vehicles were in the category of “luxury”.
Earlier, Pampanga 1st district Rep. Carmelo Lazatin said the city government’s purchases of new vehicles and firearms reflected mismanagement of the city government, after he got reports that the salaries of city hall employees for the second half of last November were delayed. He claimed that Nepomuceno bought 56, not just 40 new vehicles, worth some P56 million.
Amid criticisms for his vehicle and arms purchases, Mayor Francis Nepomuceno justified yesterday his administration’s purchases of some 40 new vehicles costing about P50 million and “baby Armalites” costing some P4 million by citing improvement in local peace and order.
City administrator Irineo Alvaro said that 15 of the vehicles were turned over to the local police force while most of the locally manufactured firearms also went to the police.
City police director Senior Superintendent Pierre Bucsit said that since the vehicles and arms were turned over to police forces, crime rate decreased from six percent to only four percent per 100,000 population.
He said Angeles has a registered population of 700,000 although transients jack this up by another 700,000 at any time of the day or night.
Bucsit, however, noted that even the previous six percent was already lower than the national average of 13 percent, as well as the eight percent average in Central Luzon.
He said that a ratio of one cop per 800 population would be ideal, but with only 378 regular cops in this city, the ratio is about one per 1,800 population. The gap, he said, is filled in by police visibility through mobility in their new vehicles and their possession of high powered arms.
“Angeles has only five entry and exit points. What we did was to study which areas are most crime prone and identified Barangays Sto. Entierro and Balibago, so we concentrated our resources in these areas,” he noted.
Nepomuceno said that the vehicles turned over to the police included not only sedans and pick up vans, but also all-terrain vehicles or ATV and motorcycles to enable patrolling policemen to access narrow alleys.
Alvaro said that the other newly bought vehicles were turned over to other city officials “to give them dignity”.
“We don’t want them driving small, dilapidated cars that conk out on them during traffic,” he said, insisting that none of the vehicles were in the category of “luxury”.
Earlier, Pampanga 1st district Rep. Carmelo Lazatin said the city government’s purchases of new vehicles and firearms reflected mismanagement of the city government, after he got reports that the salaries of city hall employees for the second half of last November were delayed. He claimed that Nepomuceno bought 56, not just 40 new vehicles, worth some P56 million.
