Crime Rate Amidst Community Quarantine at Barangay San Martin I City of San Jose Del Monte Bulacan: An Assessment
Vol.3, No.1C
Abstract
Crime is an action or omission of an individual that is punishable by law. Crimes are classified into index and non-index crimes for a statistical basis and to create a standardized definition of crime classification. Index crime includes the eight (8) focus crimes against persons, such as homicide, murder, physical injury, and rape, and crimes against property, such as robbery, theft, and carnapping/carjacking. On the other hand, non-index crimes are violations of special laws like illegal activities, local ordinances, and vehicular accidents. Crime rates were particularly high in poorer neighbourhoods and areas with larger populations and higher unemployment. The Philippines is one of the countries with a higher population and a higher number of unemployed people; because of that, there are many low-income families. The government issued the OMNIBUS GUIDELINES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNITY QUARANTINE IN THE PHILIPPINES between March 17 and May 31, 2020. This was announced on March 16, two days after the government of the Philippines under Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte placed Metro Manila under a "community quarantine" on March 14. It was implemented throughout Luzon from March 17 until April 30 and remained in areas with a high risk of infection until May 31. The main purpose of this research is to identify if there is a difference in crime rate amidst community quarantine and also to know what factors of community quarantine affect the crime rate during its implementation.
The study utilized the descriptive method design to collect information about the crime rate amidst community quarantine at Barangay San Martin I City of San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. The descriptive method is the design used by the researchers to find information about existing conditions. The researcher’s goal is to employ this method to describe the nature of the real situation as it exists at the time of the study.
The respondent of the study consists of three groups. First is Police officers with jurisdiction at Barangay San Martin I. Second, Barangay officials, and the last one is residents of the Barangay. The researchers used purposive sampling to get the needed data for the specific questions in the problem statement. Purposive sampling is a form of a non-probability sampling technique where the researchers use discretion to choose variables for the sample population. The main instrument used to gather information to answer the specific problem raised is the questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of a set of questions designed by researchers to obtain data from the respondents. It is composed of two parts. Part I deals with the profile of the respondents, and part II is composed of the perceptions and problems raised by the researchers. Questions were translated into Tagalog to ensure the validity of the responses, that is, correct interpretation and understanding by the respondents of the specific item in line with the purpose of the study.
The study concluded that based on the demographic profile of the three groups of respondents’ police officers, barangay officials, and residents of barangay San Martin I, the majority of the respondents came from the age bracket 18-25 years old, female, single and Highschool Graduate. In the assessment, the respondents Agree there is a difference in crime rate in terms of Index crime and non-index crime amidst community quarantine. Likewise, the respondents Agree that the factors affecting the crime rate during community quarantine are lockdown, Curfew, Liquor Ban, and Working from Home. As attested by the respondents, the recommendations proposed by the researchers to decrease the crime rate as a whole include enhancing police visibility, stricter implementation of curfew, proper law enforcement training for barangay tanod, more frequent appearance of authorities in community, conducting seminars and programs regarding crime prevention and put more surveillance in the community.
The study's findings are the difference in crime rate amidst community quarantine, what factors of community quarantine affect the crime rate during its implementation and recommendations on how to decrease the crime rate as a whole.
