DOMINICAN COLLEGE OF TARLAC

McArthur Highway, Poblacion (Sto. Rosario)

Capas, Tarlac 2315 Philippines

CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAMS IMPLEMENTED BY THE LOCAL

GOVERNMENT OF CAPAS AS RECOGNIZED BY BRGY. CAPTAINS OF
SELECTED BARANGAYS OF CAPAS, TARLAC, PHILIPPINES
__________________________

A Thesis Paper
Presented to the Faculty of the
College of Criminal Justice Education of
Dominican College of Tarlac
________________________

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements of the Course
Bachelor of Science in Criminology
_______________________

Submitted by:

Nisperos, Julius Ceasar B.

Quian, Rolly Lyn S.
Salas, Jerwin P.

November 2019
 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter introduces the crime prevention programs of the Local

Government Unit of Capas, Tarlac. It involves the takes of Brgy. Captains among

selected barangays of Capas, Tarlac, as well as the thoughts of their constituents and

the general public.

It is but a fact that the local government is coming across various daunting

social challenges and concerns, and criminality is one of these enormous problems

which affects all parts of community life, especially on safety and security, therefore,

recognizing criminality is an imperative matter to recognize, discuss, and address. Its

causes are high in number and its inclinations are difficult to establish. It proliferates

with the acceleration of change and development and is magnified when this process

is accompanied with the negative impact of population growth, unemployment and

rapid urbanization. The problem of criminality is aggravated by the popular

perception that crime is a very narrow sphere of behavior. In reality, there is no single

formula and theory that can explain the vast range of criminal behavior. A criminal

could be a shoplifter stealing goods from a grocery store, a pleasant young man who

suddenly and inexplicably murders his family or a gun-for-hire who brutally

assassinates a government official. Internally generated conditions attendant to a

developing nation with a heterogeneous and expanding population have been cited as

the primary contributors to crime trends. The crime problem is further magnified by

the negative impact of unemployment and related difficulties, the weakening of the

traditional social control processes as well as the constant change in moral standards,

alienation from family and social groups and the rising affluence enjoyed by some

sectors of society. Another factor which also adversely affects the problem is the

public perception of the prevention and control of crime itself. The general notion that

controlling crime is solely the task of the police, the courts and correctional

institutions is apparently erroneous. While it is true that the law enforcers’ primary

task is to prevent, suppress and control crimes by all possible means, it must be

emphasized that crime cannot be controlled without the genuine interest and

participation of other government agencies, schools, business and social

organizations, and the family. Criminality is a global experience which affects all

nations economically, socially and politically. The United States has not been spared

with the daily occurrence of crimes particularly in several big cities. In the

Philippines, kidnappings, bank heists, robbery and insurgency in the countryside have

remained the biggest threat to achieve the long-dreamt peace. The rising tide of

criminality has disrupted the normal functions of government entities. Crimes have

imperiled socio-economic activities in the cities. The police force and other public

officials are expected to perform its mandated tasks within the bounds of law, to
uphold the rights of the citizens, to protect the lives and properties of the members of

society and promote and keep civil order.

As the people's servants and protectors, the members of the police force and all

other public officials are expected to satisfy the security needs of the community.

One of the most formidable problems facing a contemporary public organization is

the issue on what leadership style a public leader should use. A leadership style is the

way an officer handles the problem situation through a decision that benefits the

organization. It must be suitable to the prevailing situation. According to Hale (1994),

it is important to recognize that leaders are not all cut from the same cloth but are of

widely different types. Some leaders are very colorful and dynamic, while others are

quiet and unassuming. Some lead by words while others lead by action and example.

This could be a factor in the reduction of crimes in certain areas while creating an

increase in others. The way a chief of office conducts himself in dealing with his

subordinates will affect the effectiveness of the unit in the performance of the task in

preventing, controlling and solving crimes, the enforcement of laws, maintaining

peace and order and the preservation of internal security within the city and in the

neighboring areas.

http://nap.psa.gov.ph/ncs/9thncs/papers/publicOrder_CrimePrevention.pdf

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

 This study seeks to assess the implementation of Crime Prevention Programs

by the Local Government Unit of Capas as recognized by Barangay Leaders of

selected barangays of Capas, Tarlac. Specifically, it aims to answer the following

questions:

1, What is the profile of the respondents in terms of the ff:

1.1 Name

1.2 Age

1.3 Gender

1.4 Occupation/ Position in Local Office

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The researchers will conduct research focusing on the implementation of Crime

Prevention Programs in the selected barangays of Capas, Tarlac. This study will show

to be beneficial to the following:

Students. ​This study will serve as an awareness call to the students. It will also be of

help to future researchers as their reference.

Academe. ​This study may be used as a tool to educate the students as it is a source of

credible information on the effort of the Local Government Unit in implementing

crime prevention programs.

Law Enforcement Agencies. ​This research will help law enforcement agencies in an

efficient and effective implementation of both national and special laws. This will

also be of help in determining the bottlenecks of implementation as well as the ways

to cope up with such.

General Public. ​This research will provide knowledge for better understanding of the

implementation of crime prevention programs, as well as the existing programs within

the vicinity.

DEFINITION OF TERMS
 There are terms that the researchers see proper to be interpreted. All

definitions were driven from the dictionary and online encyclopedia.

1. Law. T​he system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes

as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the

imposition of penalties.

2. Crime. ​An action or omission which constitutes an offense and is punishable

by law.

3. Prevention. ​The action of stopping something from happening or arising.

4. Penalty.​ ​A punishment imposed for breaking a law, rule, or contract.

5. Local Government Unit. ​An institutional unit whose fiscal, legislative and

executive authority extends over the smallest geographical areas distinguished

for administrative and political purposes.

6. Barangay. ​A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the

Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward.
7. Barangay Captain. ​(also known as a Barangay Chairman) is the highest

elected official in a barangay, the smallest level of administrative divisions of

the Philippines.

8. Crime Prevention Program. It is the attempt to reduce and deter crime and

criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce

crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice.

Chapter II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND RELATED STUDIES

 This chapter would spot on related literature in both local and foreign literary

in relation to crime prevention programs and their implementations in government

units.

There are some literature and studies which do not specifically target the

implementation process, however, they will be of enlightenment on crime prevention

per se.

Local Literature

“Crime is as old as mankind itself.” Schafer stated that ever since the biblical

misconduct happened during the period of Adam and Eve, although cultures of

humanity have developed and rules have been formed since then, violence has

continued. Crime has been present from the very start of humanity and has never

stopped. Furthermore, crime has become a “common societal phenomenon” that it is

deliberated now as part of an organization’s functional element. There are different

beliefs as to what cause people to commit crimes. The common misconception is that

crime is caused by poverty or other forms of social deprivation, but those are just a
few of the many possible reasons. One example that can support this is a concept

introduced during the 1940s by Edward Sutherland called “white-collar crime”.

Sutherland diverted the attention of the people towards crimes committed by

individuals that belong to the upper class and corporate elite. There is no certain and

single solution with regards to stopping crime, but there are ways to prevent them

before things get out of hand. In order for crime to be fought, people must become

aware of the existing laws and the crimes happening in their environment. Law

enforcers are a very important part of the society, because they can dictate what must

be avoided and decide what punishments to give to those who disobey. Presently, the

Philippines’ law enforcement suffers from numerous methods of misconducts among

its personnel. These greatly contribute to the diminishing public trust and confidence

of the citizens toward the police and high crime rate in the country which the team

wants to address. This study intends to be able to explore crime management concepts

such as decision support system, mapping, analysis, management and geographic

information of crimes to amend community-based Philippine policing.

 The system uses Centralized Blotter System which captures vital information

of a crime when it is being reported. Documents provide by the complaint can be

uploaded into the system. This system was patterned from existing Blotting systems

and the actual practice of the precinct. All necessary documents such as incident

report, endorsement letters and affidavits can be printed using the system. Tracking of

the status of the complaints can be performed with the system.

Integrated Crime Control System. The system includes crime mapping. Since

the blotter records have the information regarding the crime’s time, date and place of

incident, these blotter records saved into the database will be plotted to determine

where crimes are usually happening. Every type of crime will have its own color

coding for representation and the number of crimes that occur in a specific place. The

plotting of the crime map will be per barangay basis. In addition, there will also be a

filtered option to be able to view the map by time, by crime, or both by crime and

time. There will be a plotting of crime that happened in a specific place after the

recording of the blotter is done to be visible to both the police and the community.

There will be differences with the details and information that will be shown to the

community and the police. In the community, the plotting of crimes will only be
shown but it is in real time. While in the police side, there will be a decision support

to help the tactical officer in decision making when it comes to allocating of

policemen.

The system also has the following modules:

A. Station Module. Every station should register first to the system. The registration

process starts upon when each station enters their details such as the station name,

address, phone no, station in charge etc. and then gets a User ID from the system.

Once the prospective station registers with the system they can access the existing

blotter records of all police precincts.

B. Crime Module. This module is used for entering all details about the crime. It

contains the date and time, police station where it is recorded, place, nature of crime,

location of the crime, etc. Suspect documentation is the gathering of two types of

information: basic and medical. Both of this information is saved in the database of

the system. File number, mug shots, name, address, birthday, relatives, physical

attributes, crime committed as well as fingerprints are some of the basic information

that is recorded. The basic information is used to have a detailed description of the
suspect. Medical information, in the meantime, is used to determine how the suspects

be treated in the correctional facility. There is also a search feature where the user will

be able to look for specific blotter data that they were looking for. There will also be a

notification feature where whenever there will be a blotter submitted to the assigned

investigator will be notified if there will be a pending case for investigation.

C. Mapping Module. In this module, the community would be able to access the

crime mapping in which they can detect crime occurrences through certain

notifications in the map. This will raise public awareness about their surroundings and

this will also help to avoid the places that are prone to crime occurrences.

D. Crime Analysis Module. This provides the ability to pin map events and identify

high crime areas within defined areas. This module has the features of sorting the

crime according to its kind and number of occurrences. These features provide

agencies with powerful investigative information that can save personnel hours of

time-consuming research and mapping.

E. Case Monitoring Module. This allows users to maintain and monitor the case

assignments about the cases for investigative officers. Information regarding case

status, assignment, solvability, and progress will be accessible for enhanced decision

making. These shall be sufficient to the mitigation of the usage of paper forms. With

implementing this system, the likelihood of material lost will greatly be reduced. In

addition, tampering of processes will ultimately lessen and at the same time heighten

the PNP’s security.

F. Reports Module. This allows the tactical users and the chief of the police to be able

to generate reports that will help them in the monitoring crimes and whether the

policemen are doing their jobs. This will also help in the decision making purposes of

the law enforcers.

G. News Module This module allows the user to edit certain news and headlines

regarding the Philippine National Police. This will help the community to be aware of

the accomplishments and progress of the police.

https://www.dlsu.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/pdf/conferences/research-congress-proc

eedings/2013/HCT/HCT-I-008.pdf
 The effects of crime can be extremely damaging, both mentally and

financially. From loss of income to loss of life, these risks are posed if one fails to

secure his business or building is much greater than he can afford to take. This is to

determine the crime prevention programs, the strategies of its implementation, the

success rate of the crime prevention programs, and the problems encountered in the

implementation of the crime prevention programs. The identified top ten barangays

with the highest crime rates and the 10 barangays with zero crime rates were

considered. The barangays with the highest crime rates were identified as crime prone

barangays; they are located in the central business district where there are bars and

night spots. Records were analyzed to supplement data gathered and validate

responses of informants. Results show that there were five crime prevention programs

observed and implemented. There were five strategies used in the implementation of

these programs which were claimed as effective in preventing crimes. Among these

strategies, foot patrolling is considered the most effective in preventing crimes by all

the barangays. In the implementation of the crime prevention programs in the top 10

crime prone barangays, no unique or other practices are implemented, specifically to

address their description as crime prone areas. It was as well noted that these

barangays implement visibility and neighborhood watch less frequently. Further, a

barangay with zero crime rate implements “oplan sultipak” and is claimed to be

effective in crime prevention. There are still problems encountered even if strategies

are fully implemented to prevent crimes. These problems are mostly related to
resources particularly on funding for barangay tanods and the lack of cooperation

among the barangay constituents.​ (​https://www.ubaguio.edu/rdc/?p=995​)

Community Safekeeping has been defined as the objective to safeguard the vital core

of human lives and properties from critical ubiquitous threats, in a way that is

consistent with long term fulfillment. With this notion, the Philippine National Police

as the frontline of criminal justice system in enforcement of law were accustomed on

protection of life and property of the public.

Crime is a significant concern in urban areas of the Philippines. Typical

criminal acts include pickpocketing, confidence schemes, acquaintance scams, and, in

some cases, credit card fraud. Carjacking, kidnappings, robberies, and violent assaults

sporadically occur. According to the Philippine National Police Directorate for

Investigation and Detective Management, the Total Crime Volume (TCV) in 2012

was 217,812 as compared to 2011 with 241,988 – a decrease of 24,176. Of the total

217,812 crime incidents, the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO)

registered the highest with 56,978 followed by Regions 3 (Bulacan, Bataan,

Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Tarlac, Aurora) and 7 (Cebu, Bohol, Negros

Oriental, Siquijor) with 22,498 and 20,466 reported incidents respectively. Theft

(43,606 incidents), physical assault (34,825 incidents), and robbery (26,988 incidents)

are the top three commonly committed crimes according to the TCV.
 Crimes involving theft, physical assault, and robbery were the top three most

common crimes reported to local authorities in 2013. Typical criminal acts include:

pickpocketing, confidence schemes, acquaintance scams, and credit card fraud. It is

essential that the police should shift its mindset from its traditional policing function

of law enforcement to a more substantial role of being law enforcers and community

leaders. The police should go beyond the scope of their traditional duties and become

increasingly conscious of the role they can play in the solution of the major problems

of society, with particular reference to those raised by the potential threat brought

about by the escalation of crime. The police should not merely be instruments of

crime control or suppression. Similarly the mandate of the PNP is pointed towards

peace and order, ensuring public safety and further strengthening capacity of local

government in the effective administration and delivery of the basic services to the

citizenry through the establishment of a highly efficient and competent police force.

Equally, Republic Act No. 8551 mandated the Philippine National Police

(PNP) as a service provider for the preservation of peace and safety of the

community. The PNP shall be so organized to ensure accountability and uprightness

in police exercise of discretion as well as to achieve efficiency and effectiveness of its

members and units in the performance of their functions. Taking into account the

unfortunate events in MAMASAPANO in the 25th of January 2015 and the

controversies involved by officials in the government in this country have resulted in

a stronger commitment by all concerned to devote effort and time to essential task of

seeking peace and order. Indeed, the Philippine National Police today is challenged

by time in terms of the effectiveness of the institution in maintaining a peaceful and

orderly society as well as its efficiency and effectiveness in deterring criminal

activities and preventing the successful commission of crimes.

Such can be measured through the crime statistics recorded in the police

station. The incidence on August 03, 2012 raised situational concerns among PNP

officers and government agencies when a Barangay (village) Captain together with

the members of a private armed group was neutralized and arrested carrying

explosives and firearms in Barangay Lourmah, Mahayag, Zamboanga del Sur.

In addition, the report of attack and burning of poultry farm owned by Onyx

Go on October 28, 2012 which was perpetuated due to the refusal to give extortion

money by seven members of the New People’s Army inflicting great losses

amounting to 3.5 to 4 million pesos raised greater concern and worries among

members of the business sector. Salug Valley remains as the center of business and

trade in the eastern part of Zamboanga del Sur and it is advancing towards turning

into the most dynamic region of the territory in terms of doing much for its blasting

industry.
 It is a challenging duty for the PNP in their capacity as enforcers of the law in

their respective area of responsibility to keep the area safe to attract more investors

and to make sure that people are safe and secure in the community. To wit, studies

assess the effect of their endeavors in the implemented crime prevention and

suppression efforts in crime rate reduction as basis for future intervention programs,

as well as the public officials of different small groups, areas, and communities.

(h​ ttp://www.apjmr.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/APJMR-2017.5.3.17.pdf)​

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said crime prevention remains as a top

priority to ensure public security and safety, but needs the active support and

cooperation of the community.

This was the statement of Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 Director Chief

Superintendent John Bulalacao, which was delivered by Senior Superintendent Jesus

Cambay Sr., Metro Boracay Police Task Force commander and concurrent PRO-6

deputy regional director for operations, during the kick-off ceremony of the National

Crime Prevention Week

 In a message as read by Cambay, it was assured that the members of the PNP

are doing all that they can to prevent and suppress crimes but they need also the

citizens to successfully prevent the occurrence of crime.

The PRO-6 Chief emphasized the vital roles of every stakeholder in preventing

crimes, such as cooperation and alertness.

Cooperation of each of the stakeholder is the main key and must be done to

preserve the safety of the community.

People are encouraged to report and become volunteers by informing the PNP

about suspicious movement of persons such as modus operandi in their area.

“Failure, delay or reluctance to inform the police will only encourage the

criminals to look for another victim,” Cambay. It was added that with the help of the

local government, the police can initiate and establish crime prevention programs.

The second role that must be taken by everyone is alertness at all times.

“Crimes occur because we open ourselves and families to crime

opportunities,” Cambay said in delivering the message of Bulalacao, advising the

public to avoid being the target and victims by simply securing their homes,

especially at night, not talking to strangers and anonymous callers, allowing barangay

tanod and police visibility in their area, and being always observant always in their

surroundings. The above roles, according to the PNP-6 top cop, are just simple things

that can be easily possessed by everyone, but will contribute immensely in the

successful prevention of crimes in our country.

(h​ ttps://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1012444​)

The police chief lauded barangay chairmen for playing key roles in the fight

against criminality. It was credited the low crime rate in the Eastern Police District

(EPD) to the active partnership of the police and the community. “To fight crime, we

not only need men and women adequately trained and sufficiently motivated to do the

job. We also need the help of ordinary citizens to provide information that can lead to

the prevention of crimes and the arrest of criminals," Varilla. The chief of the

National Capital Region Police Office, pointed out that law enforcement agencies can

address issues on peace and order and security through the active partnership of the

community, and the police, and also our force multipliers, like the barangay ​tanods​,

police auxiliaries, private security sector and civilian volunteers. It was said the

Philippine National Police (PNP) continues to implement plans and programs aimed

at promoting community participation in maintaining law and order. PNP chief

Director General Oscar Calderon begged off at the last minute to attend to security

preparations for the 12th ASEAN Summit.

In an acceptance speech, PNP leadership was called on to train and arm

barangay chairmen as it would help fight crime. It was seen that the national

government has to support the barangay captains because if not, they are not going to

act accordingly. During an open forum, it was argued that they (Barangay officials)

need guns because most criminals are often well-armed.

It was decried that a barangay captain applied for a police permit to carry

firearms outside of residence six times but were all denied despite the fact that the

same is very willing to pay the required fees. The president of the Association of

Barangay Chairmen added some police officers are abusive, including the rookies in

their service.

(h​ ttps://www.philstar.com/metro/2006/12/08/373890/145barangays-play-key-role-cri

me-prevention146​)

The current situation of crime is associated with urbanization. The problems

experienced and countermeasures are initiated in the Philippines. In the Philippines,

urbanity is viewed with the combined concept of size, density and the presence of

certain institutions associated with an urban lifestyle like a town hall, church or
chapel, public plaza, park or cemetery, market place, buildings for trade activities and

public buildings like schools, puericulture and a health centre and library.

Demographic studies reveal some common characteristics of urban

communities: (1) a heterogeneity of cultures with concomitant differences in beliefs

and behaviours; (2) differences among group members, with relationships between

persons restricted to specific needs; (3) increased mobility, impersonality and

anonymity; and (4) people who vary in age, race, ethnicity, norms and values. These

are predisposing factors that breed urban criminality. Comparatively, crime rates are

higher in poorer neighbourhoods and in areas with higher population density,

deteriorated living conditions and many unemployed members of the labour force.

Following the pattern of other countries, rapid urbanization, industrialization and

migration to the cities are major factors that contribute to higher crime rates in

Philippine urban centres. Urban blight in the country is essentially a result of the

sudden unprecedented exodus of people from rural to urban areas.

Progressively increasing difficulties in rural areas, exacerbated by the natural

and man-made calamities that the country continues to experience have resulted in

massive migration to the cities. In-migration, alongside natural population increase,

accounts for the burgeoning urban population and the disparate rise of primate cities
like Metro Manila. This unplanned urbanization likewise heightens the observable

rural-urban disparities in growth. This strains resources and creates problems in the

internal city and metropolitan area. With the development of the economy through

industrial investments and with infrastructure support concentrated in big cities like

Manila, Cebu and Davao, labour, capital and entrepreneurial talents from the

peripheries have been attracted to the centres. These inequalities in resources,

opportunities, power and access to social status rewards create alienation and

frustration, and develop into pockets or subcultures of violence, which lead to crime.

Most criminologists, rightly or wrongly, also attribute urban crimes to the lack

of sound crime prevention planning and the apathy of the community towards

involvement in anti-crime campaigns. Urbanization in the country has affected the

structure and functions of the various social institutions - the family, economy, polity,

religion and education. Industrialization and modernization have led to the diminished

functions of the family. Economically, urbanization has worsened poverty. This is

further aggravated by unemployment, underemployment, a decrease in real wages due

to persistent inflation and uncontrolled migration. The labour market remains unable

to fully absorb fresh graduates and migrants. The lack of job opportunities have

forced many to work abroad, leaving many children and youths under the care and

guidance of a single parent or a relative. Uncontrolled migration has led to the

proliferation of slums, squatter areas and sidewalk shops. It is estimated that in Metro

Manila alone, 5.48 million or 61.2% of the eight million population are squatters. The

urban poor are also beset with high cost of living, financial difficulties, unstable jobs,

lack of capital, limited educational opportunities, inadequate health and sanitation,

and shortage of housing. National and local government planners and implementers

therefore face increasing demands for urban services like public transportation,

garbage collection, piped water, electricity, schools and health facilities.

Deterioration of living conditions in urban areas has produced its share of

juvenile delinquency, drug dependency, prostitution, mental illness, physical

disability, suicides, family and personal disorganization, environmental degradation,

pollution, garbage and sewerage disposals, traffic jams and congestion, conditions

that create fertile breeding grounds for crime. It is also interesting to mention the

nature and pattern of urban crimes in the Philippines culled from statistics and

victimization studies. The most recent of which is the 1996 International Crime

(Victim) Survey conducted by the United Nations International Crime and Justice

Research Institute (UNICRI) and the Crime Prevention and Coordination Service of

the National Police Commission in Manila from February 1996 to May 1996. The

study shows that the bulk of urban crimes are crimes against property. Crime statistics

from 1990 to 1995 showed that among index crimes, crimes against property or
econogenic crimes (e.g. robbery and theft) were most common. Noteworthy, too is the

fact that the recent victimization survey reveals crimes against property have the

highest rate of victimization. Victimization rates for the last five years yielded that the

most number of victimization is recorded under personal theft, followed by robbery,

then by burglary. Most of the thefts were committed elsewhere in the city or within

the local community. The majority of robbery cases were committed in the homes of

the victim’s and several near their residences. About half of the victims do not know

the offender(s). The most common items taken by burglars are cash, cell phones,

appliances (audio and video equipment), pieces of jewellery, wristwatches, and

clothing.

Before governments are able to respond fully to threats of crime, they must

first have a firm grasp of the situation. Government, particularly crime prevention

planners, must be informed of concomitant factors in the commission of crimes and

other important data for them to responsively address the problem. A. National Crime

Situation Crime volume is the number of crime incidents per 100,000 population.

Total Crime volume for the last four years has been fluctuating. It registered 80,108 in

2000, 76,991 in 2001, 85,776 in 2002 and 83,704 in 2003. For the period January to

November 2004, the total crime volume registered is 8.5% lower compared with the

same period last year. Out of the total crime volume, 55% are index crimes and the
rest are nonindex crimes. In terms of crime rate, the 7.84 crime rate per 100,000

population for January to November 2004 reflected a decrease of 10.2% compared

with the 8.73 crime rate for the same period in 2003. There is also a decrease of 1.3%

in the overall crime solution efficiency, from 91.19% in January to November 2003 to

90% in January to November of 2004. Total crime volume was highest in the National

Capital Region (NCR) comprising 23.2% of the total crime volume nationwide.

Crimes in the metropolitan area were prevalent in the highly urbanized cities of

Quezon, Manila and Caloocan. Index crime volume from January to November of

2004 was recorded at 39,400. This year it is 39,126 which shows a 0.70% reduction.

Among the classification of index crimes, 57% are crimes against persons and 43%

are crimes against property. Among the 17 regions, NCR registered the highest index

crime volume. Index crimes (murder, homicide, physical injuries, rape, robbery and

theft) were widespread in Quezon City, Manila and Caloocan City. The theft volume

last year was figured at 9,033, while this year it exhibited an upsurge to 9,892

incidents of an increase of 9.5%. For the same period, non-index crimes reduced by

16.5% compared with last year. Among the regions NCR registered the highest in

Quezon City, Caloocan and Manila. B. Crimes Associated with Urbanization In the

Philippines, there are a number of crimes directly related to urbanization that pose

serious concern for the government and civil society, foremost of these are street

crimes, illegal drug trafficking, robbery and theft, violent crimes against women and

children, and terrorism. 1. Street Crimes The phenomenon of street crimes seem to
include almost all acts punishable by law that are committed on the streets. These

seem to cover all types of crimes such as a person gunned down due to a traffic

altercation, which constitutes murder; peddling of illicit drugs on the streets or using

them as in the case of wayward youth sniffing solvents in open view of people; rape

in vacant lots or dark alleys; kidnapping while walking or travelling by car; highway

robbery of armoured vans and similar vehicles; theft of parked cars; assault/threat;

swindling; vagrancy; and prostitution. From March to November 2004, street crime

volume declined by 32.12% as it registered a total of 11,336 against 16,699 of the

previous year. The NCR remained the highest nationwide with 3,979 or 35.10%. In

Metropolitan Manila, illegal drugs incidents were highest in Caloocan City, Ermita

and Pasay City. Physical injury cases were notable in Manila particularly in the

commercial areas of Raxa Bago and Ermita. Robbery cases were rampant in Pasay,

Ermita and Tondo. Theft incidents were widespread in Manila and Quezon City. For

CY 2003, a total of 17,337 crimes against property were recorded. This figure

decreased by 4% compared with 18,054 incidents in the previous year. Crimes against

property account for 40.5% of the index crime volume nationwide and 20.7% of the

total crime volume. Theft cases comprise 57% of the total crime against property for

the 4th quarter of 2003 while robbery incidents account for 43%. For 2003, NCR

recorded the highest number of crimes against property with 6,580 followed by

Region 7 then by Region 4-A. Statistical reports gathered from police stations show

that robbery cases recorded in CY 2003 decreased by 2.2% from 7,708 cases in CY
2002 to 7,536 cases in CY 2003. Robbery comprises 17.7% of the index crime

volume nationwide and 9% of the total crime volume. The highest number of robbery

cases was reported in the National Capital Region with 2,978 cases, with Region 7

coming in next with 1,562 and Region 13 with 68 cases. There were 9,801 theft cases

recorded. The figure reflects a decrease of 5.3% compared with the previous year.

Theft constitutes 23% of the index crime volume nationwide and 11.7% of the total

crime volume. Among the regions NCR recorded the highest number of incidents

followed by Regions 7 then 10. Countermeasures

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is exerting every effort to reduce the

incidence of street crimes such as robbery, hold-ups and theft, particularly in Metro

Manila and other highly urbanized areas, through heightened police visibility and

patrols, vigilance activities in cooperation with the community including increased

community relations activities. The Police presence on the ground was intensified

through the implementation of the Community-Oriented Policing System (COPS).

The concept of the Community Oriented Policing System was launched in 1993 by

the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) and the Philippine National Police

through the project Police-Patrol Lingkod Bayan. It was institutionalized in 1994

through a PNP Memorandum by making it one of the key result areas of their

National Strategic Action Plan. The passage of Republic Act 8551, otherwise known
as the PNP Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998 further strengthened the COPS as

it mandates the PNP to be a community and service-oriented agency. In order to

ensure uniform appreciation and implementation of COPS the Law Enforcement

Pillar of the NAPOLCOM Technical Committee on Crime Prevention and Criminal

Justice formulated a Manual of Operation. Also, a series of training sessions and

dialogue for COPS implementors were conducted at the regional level in all of the

regions nationwide from the years 2000-2003. At the end of 2003, there were more

than 4,310 COPs-Kababayan Centres established nationwide. Through the COPs,

police conduct day and night mobile and foot patrols especially in crime prone areas

129TH INTERNATIONAL SENIOR SEMINAR VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS

135 like shopping malls, market places, public utility vehicles including the Light

Railway Transit (LRT) and the Metropolitan Railway Transit (MRT), banks and

parks. In the last semester of 2004, the NAPOLCOM through the Law Enforcement

Pillar conducted a Monitoring and Evaluation Survey/Study on the Implementation of

COPS and randomly selected 1st class cities and municipalities in the NCR and in the

representative regions of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The survey/study will attempt to find out the efficiency, effectiveness and

equity of the COPS. Police action has also been targeted at crimes of priority concern

through the creation of elite Task Forces. The National Anti-Kidnap-for-Ransom Task
Force (NAKTF) was activated to combat kidnap-for-ransom gangs with the Police

Anti-Criminality Emergency Response (PACER) providing main operational support.

The drive against car-napping was quite successful with the implementation of LOI

SANTUGIS along with the combined operations of the Traffic Management Group

(TMG) and other regional and operating units.

Meanwhile, LOI ROULETTE Milenyo and OPLAN JERICHO were

implemented to fight illegal gambling. Oplan PAGLALANSAG was implemented to

address the problems of loose/unregistered firearms. At the same time, there is a

proposal to create the Inter-Agency Task Force on Small Arms and Light Weapons

(TFSAWL) to respond to crimes of arms smuggling. Bank robberies decreased with

the implementation of LOI ABR-SOTF (Anti-Bank Robbery Special Operations Task

Force) and the strengthening of the Joint AntiBank Robbery Action Committee

(JABRAC). The Department of Interior and Local Government, the NAPOLCOM

and the PNP, through the assistance of the Foundation for Crime Prevention, an NGO,

established a national police hotline for emergency calls. Emergency 117 is a

centrally managed and secured telephone central monitoring station provided by the

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and operated by qualified

welltrained personnel from the PNP, Bureau of Fire (BFP), Bureau of Jail

Management and Penology (BJMP) and PLDT. Telephones used by EMERGENCY

HOTLINE 117 are equipped with the caller ID system to prevent prank calls and

ensure quick confirmation and response to emergency calls. All emergency calls are

reported by dialling 117. An emergency call is a call that refers to an incident or a

situation where a person’s life or property is in danger or threatened. In-progress calls

are where crimes are being committed at the time of the report. Incidents to be

reported include accidents with injuries; attempted suicides; rescue calls; ambulance

calls; persons injured or bleeding; fire calls; strangers forcibly entering a house;

strangers carrying household articles; someone trying to gain entrance to homes; a

group of persons with weapons preparing to fight; vehicles stopping to pick up a

person under protest, especially children; shooting incidents; stabbing incidents;

armed robberies; and rape. The PNP SMS (Text) Hotline makes use of the penchant

of the Filipino to use the technology of the short message sending (SMS) or text

messaging. The PNP text Hotline was initially focused on marketing itself as an

avenue for citizens to report erring police personnel. Presently, people can also report

through SMS any police, fire and public safety emergency. Likewise, as part of the

PNP’s forward thinking, the Satellite Police Stations were introduced in 2003. There

are a total of 395 Satellite Police Stations established nationwide which serve as

flexible tactical units for responding to calls for assistance. The most number of SPS

are activated in highly urban areas like Region 7 with 218, Region 1 with 45 and

Region 8 (Tacloban) with 43. A total of 9,830 police officers and personnel have been

trained and deployed for these quick-response units. 2. Illegal Drug Trafficking
 The illicit drug trade now poses a grave threat to national security. The

Philippines has become a manufacturing centre, processing shabu in clandestine and

not-so-clandestine drug laboratories, even in Metro Manila. Not only have illegal

drugs been linked to the commission of violent crimes, but they have also been

strongly connected to the continued existence of threat groups in the country today.

Illegal drugs have spawned other big-time crimes such as money laundering and

kidnapping-for-ransom. It was observed that foreign nationals are involved in almost

all the big-volume seizures of illegal drugs RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No.68

136 by government law enforcement authorities. For the first quarter of 2004,

seventeen foreign nationals were arrested. Confiscated from them were 297.53

kilograms of Methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, 7.60 grams of marijuana

resin, 7.21 grams of marijuana fruiting tops, 4 pieces of ecstasy tablets and 392

capsules of Bangkok pills. Nine transnational and 164 local drugs groups were

identified to be operating in the country. Out of the 164 local drug groups identified,

16 groups were already neutralized thus, 148 local drug groups and 9 transnational

drug groups remain as a target for neutralization. Countermeasures Republic Act No.

9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, was

signed into law on June 7, 2002 and took effect on July 4, 2002. The new law signals

an intensive and unrelenting campaign against the trafficking and use of dangerous

drugs and other similar substances through an integrated system of planning,

implementation, and enforcement of anti-drug policies, programmes and projects. It

defines more concrete courses of action for the anti-drug campaign and imposes

heavier penalties on offenders.

It likewise reorganized the Philippine drug law enforcement system, with the

Dangerous Drugs Board as the policy-making and strategy-formulating body on drug

prevention and control and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as the

implementing arm of the Board. To complement such structural reforms in the area of

drug law enforcement, equal focus was given to the effective prosecution and

disposition of cases, rehabilitation of drug offenders, and the mobilization of the

community as active partners of the four pillars of the Criminal Justice System in the

prevention and control of illegal drugs.

Pursuant to the Presidential Directive to consolidate the nation behind the war

against illegal drugs, a series of Conference-Workshops on Coordinating and

Integrating the Criminal Justice System Towards Effective Drug Prevention and

Control was conducted to coordinate and integrate the efforts of government,

especially practitioners of agencies under the newly enacted Comprehensive Drug

Law of 2002, in the criminal justice system including law enforcers, prosecutors,

members of the judiciary, correctional officers and the private sector, for a more
effective anti-drug campaign. Problems relating to the government’s campaign

against illegal drugs include, among others, the increasing number of drug and

drug-related cases at the level of the prosecution and the courts and the resultant

further clogging of dockets, the congested jails due to the growing intake or

admission rate of drug offenders, and the growing pressure on the part of the

rehabilitation centres to provide treatment and aftercare programmes and services

were discussed during the conference. The DDB prepared a “National Drug Abuse

and Control Strategy”. The plan presented a diagnosis of the problem and discussed

the chain linking production, processing, trafficking, financing, retailing and

consumption of drugs. It also recommended government strategic concepts which

focused on supply reduction and demand reduction. 3. Violent Crimes against Women

and Children Women and children are vulnerable segments of the population in

almost all parts of the world. Incidences of violence committed against these sectors

of the population impede the achievement of objectives of development and peace.

Violations committed against women and children both infringe the enjoyment of

basic human rights and fundamental freedom.

The most pervasive form of gender-based violence against women is reported

to be abuse by husbands or intimate partners. Sexual assault is also common, but only

a small fraction of rapes are reported to the police. Based on police records physical
abuse is the most common violation committed against women. Incidences of sexual

abuse and emotional abuse likewise are increasing. Statistics also showed that sexual

abuse, specifically attempted rape, constituted the bulk of cases of violence against

children that were reported to the PNP. Physical injuries came in second. Meanwhile,

children in especially difficult circumstances or those needing special protection are

estimated at 2.9 million. Children in this situation are either physically, sexually or

emotionally abused; exploited sexually and in hazardous labour conditions; in conflict

with the law; and victims of other forms of abuse like drug abuse, drug sales, child

trafficking and abduction. A total of 5,692 incidents were reported to the WCCD

categorized as crimes committed against children in 2004.

129TH INTERNATIONAL SENIOR SEMINAR VISITING EXPERTS’

PAPERS 137 Countermeasures The Philippine government is a signatory to all

United Nations declarations and conventions that pertain to women, particularly

violence against women, and has gone much ahead of other countries in coming up

with very specific measures to address it. Since 1986, it has been actively and

consciously promoting issues concerning women including gender equality, a policy

that aims to eradicate gender-based inequalities and enable women and men to

equally contribute to and benefit from development. On the legislative front, the

passage of laws relating to violence against women, the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 or R.
A. No. 8353, and the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 or R. A. No. 7877, and

most recently, the law against violence inflicted on women in intimate relations,

constitute some of the landmark achievements in the advancement of women rights in

the Philippines.

To some extent, this legislation redefined the view of the justice system on

gender-based violence thereby freeing women and children from the fear of injustice.

There are still other pending bills in Congress against trafficking in human beings,

particularly women and children, domestic violence and prostitution. In addition to

legal reforms, institutional reforms and new programmes were undertaken by the

government to prevent violence against women and children. An Inter-Agency

Committee (IAC) on Violence against Women has been organized by the National

Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) to better protect the rights of

women especially the most vulnerable, such as women in detention, women in

situations of trafficking and prostitution, women workers, as well as victims and

survivors of violent incidences. Aside from the NCRFW, agencies included in the

IAC are the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Civil Service Commission (CSC),

Department of Budget Management (DBM), Department of Education (DepEd),

DILG, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), NAPOLCOM, PNP,

Department of Health (DOH), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Labor and

Employment (DOLE), Department of National Defence (DND), Department of Social

Welfare and Development (DSWD), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI),

National Statistics Coordinating Board (NSCB), and the Philippine Information

Agency (PIA). The PNP has also established the Women and Children Concerns

Desks in police stations nationwide to provide specialized services to victims of

Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC). The Department of Health has 44

hospitals with Women’s and Children’s Protection Units. The DSWD created Crisis

Intervention Units and implemented regular programmes for women and children in

especially difficult circumstances in all regions in the country.

The NBI has set up one-stop-shop VAW desks. Community-based

programmes have been strengthened to respond to the needs of the victims and their

families. These include providing psychosocial interventions and various forms of

educational, legal, and medical assistance, as well as extending support services

including livelihood programmes to families, and strengthening the family system and

values education. Despite these initiatives, violence against women and children

continues unabated because of the weakness in addressing the root causes, as well as

lapses in the response mechanism. A more concerted effort and a sustained campaign

and advocacy programme on women and children’s rights should be organized. There

is a need to exercise more political will to enforce and implement existing laws on
women and children and for the government to build up stronger cases against their

abusers. Likewise, there is the urgency of training law enforcers, judges, prosecutors

and media practitioners in handling cases of women and children. 4. Terrorism Prior

to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, the Philippines has been

actively involved in various moves to combat terrorism. As early as 1996, when the

country hosted an international antiterrorism conference, the Philippines had already

emphasized the importance of information exchange as well as the need for enhancing

legislation against terrorism. In a subsequent policy statement on terrorism made on

September 26, 2001, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared the Philippine

government’s intention to work closely with the US on intelligence and security

matters concerning terrorism and prevent the flow of funds to terrorist groups through

the Philippines. The President likewise directed the National Security Council (NSC)

to undertake a special intelligence coordinating project to consolidate all overt and

covert, domestic and international, sources of information RESOURCE MATERIAL

SERIES No.68 138 relevant to the country’s response in the war against terrorism.

Currently, there is no specific law on terrorism in the country. While there are, at

present, two pending bills on terrorism in the Philippine Congress, the immediate

passage of a law on terrorism is the most urgent concern at the moment.

Countermeasures The Three-Tiered Defence System is the PNP’s basic action

framework against terrorism, with three distinct phases or components: Intelligence,

Target Hardening and Incident Management. This ThreeTiered Defence System rests
solidly on community partnership and the involvement of the entire society. Local

Government Executives (Mayors, Governors) take the lead role. A Legal Offensive

boosts the threetiered defence system, wherein the Department of National

Defence/Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Justice and the Commission

on Human Rights shall assist in the investigation, documentation and prosecution of

all terrorism-related cases. Terrorism is a criminal act in all its stages and during its

life. As such a legal offensive cuts across the entire Three-Tiered Defence System.

Aside from preventing the incident from happening and arresting suspects, putting the

terrorist behind bars requires more elaborate profiling, documentation, scientific

examination, and building a criminal case that can withstand judicial scrutiny and

pass the standards of due observance of human rights. The Three-Tiered Defence

System utilizes the synergy of partnerships involving people, police, local

government leaders and all other concerned sectors. C. Causes of Crimes Associated

with Urbanity The phenomenon of urban crimes could be attributed to a host of

factors that are economic, social, political and even moral or spiritual in nature.

Among these are: 1. Poverty Many authorities in the field of criminal justice say that

poverty is a major cause of crime. This is not of course to say that it follows that a

person who wallows in wealth cannot be a criminal. Many crimes are committed even

by the rich. Furthermore, many people mired in poverty, have remained respectable

and exemplary citizens. It is evident that poverty Per Se is not the only reason or

cause but it is a major pre-dispositive factor.

 Nonetheless, the problem of massive poverty is the primary breeding ground

or root cause of crime in countries similarly situated as the Philippines. Its

concomitant deprivations and hardships are unemployment, underemployment, low

income and productivity, malnutrition, big families, rapid population growth rates,

and low standard of living. Crime rate appears to be notably higher in poorer

neighbourhoods and in areas with high population density, deteriorated living

conditions and unemployment problems. People resort to crimes on the street to

alleviate or escape from their miseries and frustrations or to answer a need.

Illustrative examples are parents who sell their children to paedophiles or a father who

resorts to robbery just so he could buy medicine for his sick son. The urban poor are

also plagued by among others, the high cost of living, financial difficulties, unstable

jobs, lack of capital, limited educational opportunities, inadequate health and

sanitation, and inadequate housing.

National and local government planners and implementers therefore face

increasing demands for urban services like public transportation, garbage collection,

piped water, electricity, schools, health and transportation. A deterioration of living

conditions in urban areas has produced its share of crime, juvenile delinquency, drug

addiction, prostitution, mental illness, physical disability, suicides, family and

personal disorganization, environmental degradation, pollution, garbage and sewerage

disposals, and traffic jams and congestion.

Lost Family Values Today as the country becomes more and more

industrialized, there is an evident loosening of family ties - the family gets together

less and less as a group, with all members present, except during special events. Each

member of the family has his own schedule of activities, his own interests, his own

friends. All these factors prevent family members from having opportunities for

cooperative activity, preventing the development of strong personal relationships.

Several family values that promote and nurture solidarity and love within the family,

such as respect for and obedience to parents, have been eroded and polluted by

modernization.

The Western culture is making 129TH INTERNATIONAL SENIOR

SEMINAR VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS 139 RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES

No.68 140 widespread and deep-seated inroads into Philippine society through

modern communications and the mass media. These lost family values result in many

broken homes or families. As children are separated from their parents or reared by

single parents, they go wayward and become misguided. Many become addicted to
prohibited drugs, unwed and/or separated parents and eventually become criminals or

victims of crime.

Working Mothers. The employment and exodus of women from the home

where mothers like me have to be employed, some out of necessity others to augment

the family income, have somehow contributed directly or indirectly to the

commission of crimes. At times, the frequent absence of the mother weakens the

fundamental relationship with children resulting sometimes in feelings of insecurity

and rejection that lead to maladjustments.

Ignorance. The majority of our population do not know many of our laws and

the repercussions they face once they commit violations thereof. They do not know

many of their rights, the due process of law and many other related matters. In fact,

many of our hapless folks do not know what democracy is all about and how they can

make it work. This results in a “crisis” of citizenship characterized by widespread

apathy, indifference, “spoon-feeding” syndrome, or lack of discipline and

self-restraint. This affects both the criminals and victims alike in many ways. Because

of their scanty legal knowledge and lack of awareness of its repercussions, many

criminals, especially first offenders, readily perpetrate crimes based on a mistaken

notion and false belief. Many become victims of crime because they are not aware of

the modus operandi of crime syndicates and are not crime prevention-conscious.
Often times, instances of miscarriage of justice on the part of either the offender or

the victim, could be blamed on their ignorance.

Injustices/Abuses. These constitute the powerful motives for most of the crime

against persons perpetrated either by the victims or their loved ones as cases of

revenge or vendetta. Worse yet, these could serve also as the reason for the same

criminals to yet perform some more crime as a way of pre-empting a vendetta or

silencing the victims and/or their witnesses. The high propensity to avenge

injustices/abuses among Filipinos makes this factor abet crime in a very potent and

violent manner.

Soft State Non-enforcement of several laws and ordinances, massive graft and

corruption, absenteeism on the part of government officials or lack of basic services

give rise to the lack of discipline and low regard for the laws by the citizenry, which

spawn lawlessness and crime.

For monetary considerations or plain laziness, traffic laws and ordinances are

not enforced by traffic policemen or aides. Consequently, drivers, passengers and

pedestrians alike violate traffic rules and regulations left and right. From minor
violations, gradually these offenders commit more and more serious infractions of the

laws, thereby abetting crime.

Fear This problem is so pervasive that it affects practically the entire society.

whether rich or poor. People are afraid, not only while they are on the streets; but also

right inside their homes. Kidnapping for ransom, bank robberies/hold ups, murders,

homicides, crime against chastity and other heinous crimes instil so much fear among

the citizenry. Fear is an unseen force that breeds crime in many ways. Victims of

kidnap for ransom are easily paralyzed into inaction by the kidnappers; such that they

will give in to the demands of kidnappers, including that of not reporting the incident

to the police. Victims of crime and their witnesses are easily threatened to keep silent

and not to file charges and testify in court. Even when not actually threatened, many

victims and witnesses refuse to cooperate with the police in solving and prosecuting

crimes. As a result, many criminals go scot-free and are emboldened to perpetrate

more crimes. As aptly stated by Edmund Burke, “For evil to triumph, it needs only

good men to do nothing”; like victims and witnesses keeping quiet about crime.

Others There are many other breeding grounds of crime. (i) Movies that

glorify criminals and show a lot of violence and tabloids that depict lewd scenes

contribute to the rise in crime; (ii) Modern technology that tends to increase the
capabilities of crime syndicates to perpetrate more crimes that are becoming more

difficult to bust and/or solve; and (iii) Lack of sound crime prevention planning and

the apathy of the community towards involvement in anti-crime campaigns.

(h​ ttps://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/77d3/84ee5ae6d02edd8fc3464468fee4b3196561.pdf

Foreign Literature

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

are the U.S. Department of Justice’s two national measures of crime in the United

States.

The NCVS collects information from victims on nonfatal violent and property crimes,

reported and not reported to the police, against persons age 12 or older from a

nationally representative sample of U.S. households. According to 2012 NCVS data,

there has been an increase in both violent crime and property crime victimizations in

the U.S. when compared to 2011.

(h​ ttps://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=42383​)

The primary goal of local public safety and crime prevention efforts is to ensure that

the nation’s cities and towns provide a safe, healthy environment in which residents
can live. To achieve this goal, federal, state and local officials must view the safety of

the community in holistic terms. Officials must recognize the danger of focusing

exclusively on prevention, intervention, response or punishment.

Public safety efforts are more likely to result in safer communities if all solutions are

integrated into a single strategy.

Crime prevention is everyone’s responsibility because crime and violence plague all

American cities and towns. Serious discussions continue to be held by all levels of

government over the complex coordinated services that can make a difference, but

substantive action has been slow in coming. These services include preschool

education, recreation, neighborhood and employment programs targeted for youth,

substance abuse treatment on demand, victims assistance programs, economic

development, and job training and creation. The attention of all levels of government

should not only be aimed at the perpetrators of crime and violence, but also their

victims. Toward this end, NLC supports direct federal funding to cities for local

victims assistance efforts and programs funded through an office for victims of crime.

The practice of community policing is an important part of crime prevention and has

helped to return a sense of unity between local law enforcement and the community.
Prevention of crime and violence is the goal; public safety education is the key. This

can be done by such efforts as implementing drug awareness programs, restricting

access to guns, increasing recreational programs, returning schools to the “safe

havens” they once were, providing children with successful role models, and

celebrating positive successes of our youth. This nation needs to view young people

as assets – not liabilities. Action must be taken to prevent crime and violence in our

communities. To accomplish this, NLC: Strongly supports community policing

efforts; Supports adequate and direct federal antidrug, anti-violence and gang

prevention funding to cities and towns that can be directed towards community

policing efforts, anti-crime and violence activities, and rural enforcement programs;

Cities must continue to partner and collaborate with state and federal government to

help combat youth and gang violence; Cities should continue to work with state and

federal government agencies to provide resources for transitional services to all

prisoners reentering society; Urges a greater role for municipal elected officials in

federal decision-making regarding the local use and expenditure of federal anti-crime

and violence funds. This would allow flexibility to redirect financial resources from

drug interdiction activities to prevention and treatment; Urges on-going reevaluation

of state and federal laws and regulations related to public safety and crime prevention

issues. This reevaluation should include a review of laws and regulations which

address the age at which juveniles are charged as 2018 Public Safety and Crime

Prevention 184 adults and should include the input of municipal elected officials;
Urges the federal government to continue to gather information on hate crimes, family

status, educational level and income as well as race in its crime statistics on

perpetrators and victims and give the reporting of these variables equal prominence;

Encourages federal law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute cases in

which crimes occur because of the real or perceived race, national origin, religion,

gender, sexual orientation or disability of a victim. Such investigation and prosecution

should not supersede the right of state and local communities to legislate and

prosecute in the area of hate crimes; Urges Congress to continue to support the

efforts of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) which has provided cities

and towns with the hands-on, howto, materials and publications to assist citizens in

their efforts to organize and fight back against crime and violence; Urges the United

States government to use all means at its disposal to secure the extradition of those

alleged to have committed crimes against the people of the United States; and

Encourages and supports federal efforts to address the growing forms of electronic or

“cyberspace” crimes through the Department of Justice and other federal law

enforcement agencies. Cooperation, specialized training and tracking equipment is

essential for federal, state and local law enforcement personnel.

Continued federal funding to train local governments and law enforcement agencies

on how to deter, identify, and capture cybercriminals is essential to prevent and detect

on-line crime.

Weapons and Ammunition Control. The growing illegal use of firearms in cities and

towns throughout this nation is the common denominator for most violent deaths.

Firearms do not kill and maim without someone pulling a trigger. Controlling

weapons and ammunition is just part of a more comprehensive effort necessary to

reduce violent acts. NLC urges all levels of government to adopt statutory, regulatory,

and policy actions to confront, curb, and eventually eliminate firearms violence in

America. Specifically, NLC asks the federal government to provide funding and

resources to the ATF to help facilitate efforts of states and localities to register guns;

continue to enact initiatives and strengthen laws imposing enhanced sentences for the

use of a firearm in the commission of any federal, state, or local crime; strongly

support enhanced programs to arrest gun traffickers and shut down the illegal sale and

distribution of firearms; regulate, in a manner consistent with the Constitution,

Internet facilitated firearms commerce and provide the same oversight as other types

of commerce involving the sale and/or transfer of ownership of firearms; grant

authority to the appropriate Federal agency to regulate and otherwise oversee the

design, safety, and responsible marketing and sales of firearms; support flexible
federal funding for local programs that address gun violence and promote gun safety;

continue the federal ban on all manufacture, sale, importation or use of

armor-piercing bullets that can penetrate 2018 Public Safety and Crime Prevention

185 bullet-proof vests except for legitimate use by the military and police officers.

Support passage of federal, state, and local laws imposing substantial mandatory

sentences, with no possibility of parole, probation, or suspended sentence for the use

of armor-piercing bullets in the commission of any crime; ban the manufacture, sale,

importation, or transfer of all automatic and semiautomatic assault type weapons

except for legitimate use as authorized by the National Firearms Act (NFA) and by

the military or law enforcement; apply a waiting period of up to 30 days for the

purchase or transfer of all guns so that local police agencies may check the criminal

and mental health status of purchasers. expand and enhance the National Instant

Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to ensure every states criminal records

are easily entered and updated and to require anyone who is selling or transferring a

gun to check appropriate records through and authorized federal firearms licensee

(FFL) to ensure the person acquiring the firearm is not a prohibited person.; require

federal licensing of gun dealers. Applicants for Federal Firearms Dealer licenses

should be required to show proof of compliance with state and local laws to the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) before the agency issues a gun
dealer license. The ATF must be required to provide each general purpose

government with a list of that jurisdiction’s Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers

annually; armor-piercing ammunition, sometimes referred to as metal-piercing

ammunition, is ammunition that is designed primarily to penetrate metal or armor,

including body armor commonly worn by police officers. Under federal law,

armor-piercing ammunition is defined as any projectile or projectile core that may be

used in a handgun and that is constructed entirely from one or a combination of

tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium. (18

U.S.C. § 921(a)(17); 27 C.F.R. § 478.11) In addition, armor-piercing ammunition is

defined as a full jacketed projectile “larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for

use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total

weight of the projectile.” 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(17)(B). 18 U.S.C. § 923(k) • Require

that the background of an individual who acquires a weapon from a pawnshop, gun

show or online seller shall be subject to the same scrutiny as an individual who

purchases a firearm from a federal firearms licensee; • Enact federal legislation that

would allow states and/or local governments to adopt stricter standards and rules

regarding purchase, storage and possession of firearms; and enact federal legislation

to prohibit an individual under the age of 21 from purchasing or possessing an assault

rifle and or handgun; urge firearm manufacturers to be responsible corporate citizens

by: 1) including safety devices with their products and developing new technologies

to make guns safer; 2) selling only to authorized dealers and distributors, and allow
their authorized distributors to sell only to authorized dealers; 3) allowing no firearm

sales at gun shows or similar events unless all background checks are completed; 4)

not selling firearms that can readily be converted into fully automatic weapons or that

are resistant to fingerprints; 5) not selling large (more than 10 rounds) capacity

ammunition clips; 6) maintaining an electronic inventory tracking plan; and 7)

forgoing firearms sales to licensed dealers known to be under indictment.

Youth Oriented Crime Prevention It is essential that all levels of government,

community leaders, the business community, and residents work together to create

and sustain environments in which violence is not a pervading presence in the

everyday lives of our nation’s children. 1. Youth and Gang Crime and Violence

Federal juvenile justice efforts within the Department of Justice have not had enough

resources devoted to them to address the full range of problems in the area of youth

victimization and youth crime. Youth crime has been associated with increased gang

activity across the nation. Many schools and public facilities have become battle

grounds for youth gang members. As gang activities have become increasingly

mobile in crossing geographical boundaries, NLC urges the federal government to

continue its work toward placing increased penalties on gang-related crimes, such as

prosecuting offenders under organized crime statutes.

The federal government must prioritize establishing and maintaining effective

juvenile crime and gang prevention programs on the local level by directly funding

city, town, and multi-jurisdictional initiatives. Federal partnership and collaboration

with cities and towns is the best way to take advantage of local leadership on this

issue while encouraging innovative thinking and cooperation across jurisdictions and

levels of government. The federal role in juvenile justice should also focus on support

services for state and local governments and information gathering and dissemination

in the areas of rehabilitation of juveniles and progressive sanctions. NLC supports:

Federal assistance for the establishment and operation of youth courts to ensure swift

and appropriate sanctions for certain juvenile offenses; diirect, flexible funding to

municipalities for local juvenile justice and delinquency prevention initiatives with

strict limitations on the amount of federal funds that can be used for administrative

costs to ensure that a high percentage of the funds go to the local level; and continued

federal technical assistance to train local governments on how to apply for federal

funds administered through states and units of local governments.

Sentencing NLC believes that, except in cases of federal crimes, the federal

government should not be involved in juvenile sentencing – this is a state and local

function. 3. Corrections The federal government should provide funding for mandates

imposed on state and local governments that call for more accountability in punishing
juvenile offenders. Currently not enough juvenile holding facilities are available to

adequately meet the demands of the justice system. Overcrowding and the high costs

of implementing specific separation requirements are problems that severely hinder

rehabilitation efforts. More flexibility is needed in all areas of juvenile corrections,

including juvenile detention facilities and the education of juvenile offenders. NLC

urges the federal government to provide sufficient funding for all phases of all

juvenile justice mandates to achieve desired results.

School Safety. The federal government must provide increased federal funding to

augment local efforts aimed at improving school safety, such as School Resource

Officers. The long-term effectiveness of programs that help to improve school safety

can succeed with continued investments by federal, state, and local governments. The

federal government must provide funding for the implementation of effective

intergovernmental partnerships to truly achieve the goal of developing a

comprehensive approach to school safety, including comprehensive mental health

treatment and counseling for all youth and their families, sensitivity training

programs, and other services that help prevent students from becoming perpetrators or

victims of crime and violence. The federal government should increase flexible

funding for Title V, juvenile justice programs and innovative approaches to school

safety that can be replicated by communities across the nation.

The federal government must work with state and local authorities to establish more

uniform guidelines and recommend mandatory reporting for crime and violent

incidents in schools. School districts should be required to provide the U.S.

Department of Education and other federal agencies, as well as state education

agencies and state and local law enforcement agencies, with school incident reports.

The school districts should also provide these agencies with an analysis of incidents

and intervention techniques to create a national database of school crime and violence

incidents and “best practices” for intervention. This responsibility to report creates a

difficult task of defining what a violent incident is. Intergovernmental cooperation, to

establish reporting standards and criteria for federal, state, and local education and

law enforcement agencies, would establish benchmarks for consistent guidelines on

reporting school crime and violence. NLC calls for a consistent commitment among

all levels of government, school systems, businesses, and community groups to ensure

that public safety contributes to a good quality-of-life in all communities.

Mass Media and Media Violence NLC urges the federal government to adopt an

approach toward violence in the media that emphasizes alternative approaches which

encourage and applaud pro-social values, demystify violence, and teach youth how to

handle frustration, prevent suicide, and deal with conflict. NLC supports
entertainment rating systems that will provide advance notice of violent content in

programming. NLC supports a federal public health campaign in schools that targets

violence in a manner similar to that used to combat drunk driving. The federal

government must provide a clearinghouse that coordinates and evaluates recently

conducted credible studies on the mental health implications of mass media violence;

and provide flexible, direct funding and/or assistance for Internet filtering capabilities

for our nation’s libraries, schools, community centers and other local public facilities

that provide children access to computers and other interactive media. substance

Abuse Substance abuse is a public safety concern. Illegal drugs, as well as alcohol

and prescription drug abuse, are all straining the capabilities and resources of

governments, especially public safety budgets. 2018 Public Safety and Crime

Prevention 188 Despite considerable efforts, there has been little discernible progress

being made in reducing the social costs of drug abuse. Efforts to control drug

trafficking have been, for the most part, unsuccessful. Local law enforcement efforts

continue to be hampered by inadequate and ill-defined state and federal laws, limited

resources, overcrowded prisons, and overburdened criminal justice systems.

Drug abuse prevention is under-funded, particularly at the federal level, and

there is uncertainty and disagreement at all levels of government about what

constitutes prevention. Currently, federal funding is focused on programs which stress

care to the chronic substance abuser, while providing only minimal attention to

programs aimed at preventing the proliferation of illegal alcohol and drug use. NLC

supports a comprehensive strategy for substance abuse prevention, intervention,

treatment and law enforcement, including alternatives to incarceration. NLC further

urges that a balance in expenditures should be sought between prevention, treatment

and corrections. o improve this situation, sufficient federal resources must be

committed to ensure that enforcement strategies are realistic and are coordinated with

efforts in education, prevention, treatment and research. NLC supports: • The

maintenance of adequate funding for local, federal and state law enforcement

agencies to deal with drug-related problems; • An increased focus on enforcement

against those involved in cases that are determined as high-level manufacturing, sales

and distribution of illicit drugs, especially those selling or furnishing illegal drugs to

minors; • Prosecution to the fullest extent of the law for those involved in violent

crime related to illegal drug use; • Increased penalties for those convicted of drug

offenses where firearms are possessed by the offender; • Increasing the use of federal

law enforcement in the interdiction, arrest, search, and seizure of illicit use and sale of

drugs; • Federal assistance in the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the

death or injury of public safety and law enforcement personnel involving official

investigations of illegal drug operations; • The utilization of extradition as a key tool

in combating international trafficking; • The immediate deportation of illegal

immigrants convicted of offenses related to the illicit sale of drugs after the court’s
disposition has been fulfilled; • The aggressive pursuit and prosecution of medical

personnel illicitly prescribing, selling, administering, dispensing, mixing or otherwise

preparing any prescription drug, including any controlled substance under state or

federal law; and • Federal funding and assistance to every state to establish and

maintain Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) and to ensure these

programs achieve data uniformity and implement information sharing across all state

PDMPs. The federal government should also require healthcare providers utilize the

PDMP prior to prescribing medications to patients. F. Domestic Violence Domestic

violence is a serious social crime and a criminal justice problem that significantly

impacts our nation’s cities and towns in a variety of ways, including emergency

shelters, schools, law enforcement and emergency medical service agencies, and the

courts. Domestic violence crosses all socio-economic strata and should not be viewed

as a private family matter, but in the context of other crimes and problems requiring

prevention, intervention, and prosecution. All levels of government must make

domestic violence initiatives a priority on their agendas. Federal legislation should be

enacted to provide funding and support for local government programs to address the

problems of domestic violence through prevention, intervention, treatment, and

effective prosecution. Legislation must take into account the potential impacts on

already overburdened probation and parole departments. NLC encourages the federal

government to: • Provide funding and assistance to maintain successful domestic

violence programs already in existence, to initiate demonstration projects, and to aid

local governments and organizations in modeling programs after successful holistic

approaches; 2018 Public Safety and Crime Prevention 190 • Establish a central point

for the collection and dissemination of information on domestic violence programs

taking place across the country that includes examples of what is and is not working,

the progress of legislative initiatives at both the state and federal levels, recent studies

on domestic violence issues, and other relevant information; Assist all levels of

government in the development of programs that work with children exposed to

domestic violence and in the development of general education programs for all

children on domestic violence issues; and Fully fund the Violence Against Women

Act programs, as well as, efforts which support the abolition of physical, sexual and

psychological human rights abuse and oppression of women.

Prisoner Reentry. Each year prisoners are released back into society without access to

immediate supervision and/or support. These prisoners face a multitude of problems

including homelessness, a lack of job opportunities, educational deficits, mental

health issues, substance abuse, infectious diseases, and no connection to their families

and communities. Over half of all released prisoners will be rearrested causing

increased costs and burdens for cities. In order to combat this problem, the federal

government must provide local and state governments with resources and funding for

transitional services to all prisoners in the areas of housing, education, mental health
treatment, substance abuse counseling, employment opportunities, and healthcare. In

addition, the U.S. Department of Justice should adopt a policy mandating that all

federal prisoners be screened for drug/alcohol addiction, mental health problems,

infectious diseases and other risk factors prior to release and then require these

prisoners to seek continued treatment prior to and upon re-entry. Furthermore, the

federal government should encourage state governments to require policies mandating

that all state prisoners have DNA collected during the initial screening and exiting

process in an effort to solve open cases. For prisoner reentry to succeed, reintegration

must be emphasized as soon as a prisoner enters a correctional institution.

Emphasis must be placed on identifying a prisoner’s specific risk factors,

providing treatment while in custody, and following up with community-based

treatment once a prisoner is released. Programs must be implemented on both the

federal and state level to involve the prisoner’s family unit or mentor in any decisions

or treatment plans, both during incarceration and at the time of release.

Congress should pass legislation guaranteeing that appropriate programs such

as Medicaid, Social Security Disability, educational or vocational retraining, and

other federal benefits, are available to eligible individuals on the first day of their

release, ensuring access to the necessary services and resources vital to making a
successful transition back into society. H. Driving Under the Influence and Distracted

Driving The enforcement of laws for distracted driving (including texting or the use

of mobile devices) and driving under the influence, adjudication of cases, treatment of

offenders, prudent punishment of repeat offenders and the development of public

awareness are all important state and local functions. The role of the federal

government, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in assisting

state and local governments should continue and be expanded. These efforts should

focus public attention on the distracted driving and driving under the influence

problem, facilitate public and private sector actions to counter the problem and

provide administrative support for interstate coordination of driving under the

influence countermeasure efforts.

Equity in the Criminal Justice System Every person has a right to expect equal

treatment by law enforcement officers, prosecuting authorities, judges and

correctional officials. Discriminatory enforcement of criminal laws has a corrosive

effect on our cities and towns, undermining the confidence of the community in law

enforcement and interfering with our efforts to prevent crime and prosecute offenders.

Unfortunately, our country has a long history of disparate treatment in our criminal

justice 2018 Public Safety and Crime Prevention 193 system. Numerous studies

confirm that racial minorities, especially African Americans and Latinos, are more

likely to be arrested, more likely to be prosecuted and more likely to be incarcerated

for offenses than whites accused of the same crime. NLC supports federal legislation
and action which eliminates discrimination in the enforcement of our criminal justice

system. NLC opposes profiling of suspects based solely on race, ethnic origin,

religion, gender identity, poverty or other similar factors. In addition, the federal

government should assist local law enforcement agencies in their efforts to provide

data collection and analysis education and training for law enforcement officers

regarding appropriate investigative and enforcement techniques.

Poverty Crime statistics demonstrate the significantly greater risks of direct

criminal victimization of poor people. In addition, indirect victimization of crime also

falls disproportionately on poor individuals. Neighborhoods with large concentrations

of low income people are also generally the geographic areas of cities in which there

are greater reports of crime, particularly street crime. Other chapters of the National

Municipal Policy cover a variety of programs and initiatives to reduce poverty and

address affordable housing issues. These should be viewed as a way to get at the root

causes of crime and violence.

(h​ ttps://www.nlc.org/sites/default/files/users/user167/6-PSCP-Section-2018-pg.182-2

23-Res.33-40.pdf​)

SYNTHESIS
 A review of related studies in both local and foreign literature intelligibly

exhibits that crimes are all over communities here and abroad. The national and local

government of the Philippines, through the aid of the Philippine National Police and

the local government officials, are fighting over crimes against persons and property.

It was also seen that there are a lot of studies about programs and movements relative

to maintaining peace, safety, and security within communities and among

neighborhoods. With that, this research also targets to further the studies on proper

and efficient implementation of such laws and programs.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES OF DATA

This part of the research presents the entire process used to acquire relevant

data and information essential to arriving at the objectives. It also presents the process

per stage taken up from the determination or selection process of credible

respondents, their profile, the data-gathering tool and strategies, and the analysis of all

gathered data.
Data-gathering Tools and Processes

In order to arrive to the aims of this paper, the researchers shall utilize the following

research tools and instruments:

Observation. ​Apart from the interview and the employment of various documents,

the researchers shall engage in actual observation into the current situation of the

selected barangay communities.

Interview.​ The interview is administered to obtain first-hand and real-time

information from the important figure of the concerned community. The researchers

shall form an interview questionnaire with regard to the profile of the respondents as

to age, gender, and current employment or position in the local public office.

Population and sample. ​This research will cover 150 respondents, where each

barangay shall constitute 50 respondents. Priorities are the barangay captains of

respective barangays and his constituents. The rest of the respondents will be coming

from each community through the assistance of the barangay officials.

Research instrument

The researcher designed an interview schedule and a questionnaire. This shall be used

to further the study. It is composed of questions with regard to the takes of the

officials on crime prevention programs set by the Local Government Unit of Capas as

guided by the national laws.

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

________________________________________________________________

Name : ______________________________ Gender : ___________

Occupation/ Public Office: ___________________ Age: ________________

INSTRUCTION: Please check ​(✓) ​on the box corresponding your answer. In
this survey, you are expected to participate in full honesty to be able to arrive
at an accurate result. Thank you.

LEGEND

A: ​ALWAYS S: ​SELDOM

O: ​OFTEN N: ​NEVER
NOTE: The value of each result is computed in a percentage scheme. Such
values were derived from the survey conducted by the researchers.

QUESTIONS A O S N

1. Are you aware of the crime prevention 10.68 57.99 16.67 14.66
programs of the LGU?

2. Are you complying with the 18.68 11.32 62 8

implementation process?

3. Are you attending meetings/ conferences

(on discussions relative to crime prevention 12.68 15.33 57.33 14.66
programs) set by the LGU?

4. Is the compliance of your community 22.66 9.33 48.67 19.34

being checked by barangay officials?

5. Is the LGU sending people in your 18.67 7.33 28.67 45.33

community to check if such programs are
properly implemented?

6. Do you implement your own crime 17.33 16 19.33 47.34

prevention programs in your barangay?

7. Do you have available working CCTVs in 50.67 22 12.67 14.66

your barangay?

8. How often crimes occur in your area? 11.34 27.33 44.67 16.66

9. Do you have barangay meetings/ 40.67 9.33 28 12

assemblies discussing the programs of your
barangay?

10. Do you have assigned ​tanods​ roving 23.33 31.34 20.66 24.67
around your barangay?

11. In a scale range of “always-to-never,” 38.67 27.33 19.33 14.67

“always”​ being the highest, and​ “never”
being the lowest, how safe is it to live in your
barangay?
12. Are those who commit crime in your 22 38 28.67 11.33
community residents of your own barangay?

13. Is your barangay hall open and manned 37.34 31.33 10.66 20.67
24 hours a day?

14. Are those who commit/s crime in your 20.67 40.66 25.34 13.33
barangay punished or sanctioned?

15. Are there minors involved ​(as offenders) 16.66 9.34 52 22

in crimes in your barangay?

16. Do you implement special programs for 9.33 19.33 42.67 28.67
juvenile offenders in your area?