CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A top police officer denied Monday, July 25, that a crime surge is sweeping this city.

Police Lt. Col. Surki Sereñas, deputy director for operations of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office, in a Facebook post, slammed netizens claiming this.

In fact, he said, weekly crime incidents have dropped from 10 to eight.

“Our weekly average crime incident in the city is 10. The statistics even dipped down at eight incidents a week. This is way, way lower compared to the crime incidents in other highly urbanized cities,” Sereñas said.

He stressed that this city is safe and the recent crime incidents were not connected.

“The city is still very safe and there is no cause for alarm. The recent crimes that happened in the city are in no way connected to each other,” Sereñas said. “There is no mentally deranged serial criminal, serial killer, or serial rapist that will prey on you or your loved ones,” he added.

Sereñas said they are doubling their efforts to prevent crime through preemptive deployment and intelligence operations.

“If we have not prevented it, we will investigate and solve it,” he said.

Despite challenges in personnel and mobility resources, Sereñas said, based on their records, 98 percent of the total index crime in the city from January to July this year was either cleared or solved.

“From January to July, all rape cases in the city is either cleared or solved,” he added.

On Saturday night, July 23, Mayor Rolando Uy, together with Cagayan de Oro City Police Office top brass, some councilors, and the Regulatory Compliance Board (RCB), monitored business establishments on Corrales Ave.

stablishment owners and personnel were informed about their responsibilities in helping the city government maintain the peace and order.

On July 23, Avelino Majorenos, 28, of Opol, Misamis Oriental, was shot dead during a commotion inside a bar on Corrales Ave.

RESIDENTS CHALLENGED

Sereñas admitted that there were a lot of complaints in social media against the local police, following the series of crime incidents where a few individuals were killed.

He said police will attend to other pressing concerns instead of wasting their time on people who continuously rant in social media while hiding behind assumed identities.

Sereñas has challenged them to send their complaints against the police to the National Police Commission (Napolcom), People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB), Regional Internal Affairs Service (RIAS), Ombudsman, and Commission on Human Rights.

“These offices will be more than willing to assist you because it is their job to remove rogue police officers from the service,” he said.

ORO POLICE AUXILIARY TEAMS

Apart from the plan of convening the City Peace Development and Security Council (CPDSC) to discuss the series of crime incidents, the city chief executive he is planning to create Oro police auxiliary teams.

In a press conference at the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office Monday, July 25, after the flag-raising ceremony, Uy said one police auxiliary team will be composed of 20 members and each team will be assigned to the 10 police stations in the city.

“Matag presinto dugangan nako’g 20 ka personahe aron makatabang sa kapulisan sa matag presinto (I will add 20 personnel to every police station as additional forces for our police),” Uy said.

“Dili lang krimen ang tutokan kundi mismo tanan, apil na ang droga (It will not just focus on crime incidents but also all forms of illegal activity, including illegal drugs),” he added.

Members must be college level or college graduates and they will be thoroughly screened and they will be under the supervision of the station commander.

To achieve a peaceful and crime less environment, residents here have been urged by the police and city government to remain vigilant and do their part in maintaining the peace and order.