Initial probe results back exposé vs Cebu police

CEBU CITY — Initial probe results on an exposé of how stations of the city police tampered reports on crime statistics, tend to confirm the allegations.

Investigators tasked to look into the Freeman exposé have counted 1,489 theft and robbery cases from the blotters of the Guadalupe police station last year alone.

The Cebu City police claimed in its crime volume report for 2000 that only 662 theft and robbery incidents occurred in the city the entire year.

As of Thursday, the team of special investigators, headed by Senior Superintendent Cesar Pagtakhan, was still scrutinizing the blotters of the city’s 11 police stations.

Last week, the Freeman reported that six of the 11 police stations received a total of 3,775 robbery and theft complaints last year.

The figures do not even represent records for the whole year because several blotters were no longer available for inspection.

The initial findings also tend to show that most of these theft and robbery cases remain unsolved, contrary to the city police’s claim that crime solution efficiency has considerably improved.

Following the Freeman exposé, Chief Superintendent Avelino Razon, regional police director, created a special team to look into the allegations that field commanders were watering down the city’s crime volume.

The Freeman also learned that some police stations in the city, and even in Mandaue City, are using two sets of blotters to "hide" the real crime volume in their respective turfs. — Freeman News Service