The crime rate in Bacolod City dropped by 17.12 percent overall in 2018 based on reports recently released by the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO).

BCPO director, Police Senior Superintendent Francisco Ebreo, said the number of index crimes, which includes murder, homicide, physical injury and rape, and crimes against property, decreased from 1,132 in 2017 to 677 in 2018, or or 40.19 percent.

Meanwhile, non-index crimes, which includes child abuse, illegal drugs, illegal firearms, traffic offenses, among others, dropped from 2,274 in 2017 to 2,146 in 2018, or equivalent to 5.63 percent.

Ebreo said the downward trend in crime is due to continuing operations being conducted against prevalent crimes in the city.

The number of police-initiated operations in 2018 increased by 62.9 percent compared to the previous year./DGB, WDJ