A STUDY OF POLICE CRIME PREVENTION IN LUCENA CITY

ABSTRACT The descriptive survey method will be used in conducting this study. This is suitable because the researchers intend to collect a data to know the different police crime prevention strategies of Lucena City police station; to determine the problems that being encountered of the respondents and lastly, to measures the level of effectiveness of the police crime prevention strategies conducting in Lucena City. Majority of the respondents are females and most of them are single. The highest respondents age are in the bracket of 20 below, next is the 21–25 age bracket. Many of the respondents are secondary graduate. As to the length of residency, most of the respondents have been living in their Barangay for 21-25 years. Among the ten (10) strategies implemented by the Lucena City Police Station, the respondents favored the following more realistic to them were the conducting of seminars about crime prevention in every Barangays of Lucena City; Police omnipresence by means of foot patrol/ beat patrol in populated area to prevent cellphone/ jewelry snatching and other crimes; Crime prevention strategies will reduce the motivation and opportunity to commit crime; Crime prevention strategies will make the offenders get caught. As regards to the level of the effectiveness of the crime prevention strategy for the residents, the respondents find the following very effective were the police omnipresence by means of foot/beat patrol in can prevent crimes like snatching and other street crimes; Barangay tanods and police partnership in patrolling can lessens the occurrence of crime incidents because tanod have more familiar with the area and can determine who are strangers in their jurisdiction; The police who are implementing curfew hours to the minors can prevent violence and riots among youths; and the The conduct of ‘oplan siyasat’ in different streets lessens the increasing crimes regarding riding-en-tandem and car-napping. The problems the being encountered by the respondents that affect the effectiveness of Lucena City Police Station’s crime prevention strategy are those police officer who engaged in bribery or corruption and failure of having a light post to dark and isolated areas, as well as the slow response of the police station to the complaint of the community; Mobile patrol unit prevent or mitigate crimes because it covers a large area also affect the effectiveness of crime prevention strategies.