QCPD says car theft incidents down

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) reported yesterday a drastic decline in car theft incidents from 16 cases last month to only five this month.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan Jr., in his report to Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., said the police anti-carnapping unit, headed by Superintendent Rodolfo Jaraza, has also recovered one of the five stolen vehicles.

Police records showed that from Oct. 26 up to yesterday, only five vehicles were stolen as a result of intensified police monitoring and patrols.

The most recent incident involved a carjacking on Banawe last Tuesday evening.

"Carnappers have shifted their illegal activities to other Metro Manila cities," he told Belmonte during yesterday’s meeting.

Radovan attributed the significant decline to the vigorous campaign of the Traffic Management Group (TMG) and the implementation of the "Oplan Magwheels" being carried out by the QCPD.

He said the operation plan, which includes a crackdown on outlets of stolen car parts and a manhunt for known carjackers resulted in the arrest of at least nine dealers of suspected stolen car parts in the Banawe area.

Radovan, however, said that the effort of police to pin down suspected dealers of stolen car parts has encountered a minor setback after the chief inquest prosecutor reversed the recommendation of an inquest fiscal for a P40,000 bail bond and instead ordered the release of the suspects pending preliminary investigation.

The QCPD chief did not mention the name of the suspects, but assured the mayor that he would submit a report on the circumstances behind the arrest and the eventual release of the suspects.

Apart from car thefts and carjackings, Radovan also reported a decline in the number of crimes against persons and properties from 121 last year to only 98 in the period covered this year.

Radovan, however, said an increase in crime incidents against property is expected next month because of the holidays.

" We are deploying more police beat patrols to crime prone areas, especially during the Christmas season," he said.