BUTUAN CITY - The Police Regional Office (PRO) 13 (Caraga) reported an 11.5 percent drop in eight focus crimes across the region from January to September this year. "The decline in crime incidents reflects the sustained police operations and an intensified presence in high traffic areas," PRO-13 Director Brig. Gen. Alan Nazarro said in a statement Thursday. The number of crimes in the eight categories decreased from 1,086 last year to 961 during the same period in 2024. The focused crimes include murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, and motorcycle and motor vehicle carnapping. Crimes like rape, robbery, motorcycle carnapping, and murder showed the most significant reduction, with cases falling from 370 in 2023 to 228 in 2024 -a 38.4 percent decrease. Specifically, robbery dropped by 18.6 percent (from 129 cases in 2023 to 105 in 2024), motorcycle carnapping decreased by 16.66 percent (from 48 to 40), and murder declined by 11.2 percent (from 125 to 111). Nazarro underscored the impo rtance of community and stakeholder collaboration in achieving PRO-13's crime reduction goals. Source: Philippines News agency