Calauan crime rate increases almost 6%

by: Marie Antoinette F. Bangabang

The Calauan police had noted a 5.98% increase in theft cases since informal settlers from several parts of Metro Manila were relocated to Bayan ni Juan (BNJ) housing project in Barangay Dayap, Calauan, Laguna three years ago.

According to the blotter’s book from March 2012 to the present, most cases involved residents from the said housing project, “NHA” as the locals call it.

“Before those settlers arrived, crimes is minimal, and stealing was uncommon,” Calauan Councilor El John Paulo Alfonso said in Filipino.

An average of 18 cases of different kinds are filed in the blotter’s book per month. These include stealing, sexual harassment, brawling and abuse, with the first two as the most common crimes.

However, stealing made up 38% of the average month’s cases, while sexual harassment was cases comprise 27%.

Most of the reported offenders from BNJ are teenagers and young adults. Many of them are males but there are some rare cases wherein females in their late 30s are reported as well.

Majority of the reported offenders were aged 16 to 24 years old. The youngest teenager reported for theft is 14 years old, while the oldest is 28 years old.

According to the reports, most of them acted in groups rather than individually. Police describes them as the out-of-school-youth or the stand-by.

This September, there were 10 cases filed, and three of these involved stealing. From those three, two are complaints filed against teenagers from BNJ.

In June, there were a total 10 thieving cases, and seven of those were filed against BNJ residents.

The Kapitan of Dayap and his councilors had tried solving the increasing theft cases in BNJ by implementing curfew covering 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

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