101 police officers deployed in Cotabato City

COTABATO CITY -- A police force composed of 101 police officers from Police Regional Office 12 was deployed here as augmentation force to contain rising crime incidents.Sr. Supt. Rex Anongos, Cotabato City police chief, said the 101 police officers, composed of five senior leaders and the rest enlisted men, have been deployed in Cotabato City’s crime prone areas, including schools, malls, public markets and terminals.An ideal police-population ratio is one is to 500 but the current ratio in Cotabato City is one is to 1,650 population.Local officials and residents have urged the police last month to address rising cases of crime against life and that spate of killings that police believed was triggered by family feud or illegal drugs.”These augmentation force was one of the many steps to address rising crimes,” Anongos told reporters. We have other steps and police visibility is among them.”From January to August this year, 88 shooting incidents have been reported with 70 fatalities and 33 others wounded that transpired in the city’s 37 villages.With the augmentation force, Cotabato City now has enough personnel to cover the city and crime prone areas. Before the augmentation arrived, the city police office has only about 260 personnel.Mayor Japal Guiani welcomed the arrival of the police personnel even as he said another batch of peacekeepers are expected to arrive in the coming months.