WITH the Christmas season just a month away, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has started to deploy personnel in strategic areas of the city to prevent the occurrence of petty crimes.
Police Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla, CCPO deputy city director for operation, said they have increased police visibility in areas where theft and robberies occur.
Parilla said in the past weeks, Cebu City averaged 12 crimes weekly and all were solved by police and cases were filed.
Parilla added that from Oct. 25 to Oct. 30, 2021, only nine crimes were recorded in the city and these were all solved.
The CCPO ordered all its 11 police stations to spread information against ATM scammers by distributing flyers in banks that call on people to watch out for criminals and the different modus operandi.
“Our different police stations had information dissemination and they have already disseminated flyers with regard to the safety especially at ATM machines because usually, this is where several crimes happen that victimize our people, especially ATM skimming,” said Parilla in a mix of Cebuano and English.
ATM skimming is a type of fraud that is committed by rigging ATM machines with hidden recording devices and stealing PINs (personal identification numbers) and other information off credit cards and debit cards.
Parilla said policemen have been tasked to roam areas with ATM machines, especially at night, to deter robberies and other possible crimes.
Parilla assured that criminals from nearby islands have been unable to operate in the city due to the difficult travel requirements needed to enter Cebu.
He said so far, the crimes that had been committed were perpetrated by “local boys,” who are known to police investigators.
Charges had been filed against the criminals, Parilla said.