PREVALENT CRIME AMIDST PANDEMIC AND PREVENTION

STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTED BY PNP TORIL DISTRICT: BASIS FOR

CRIME PREVENTION

Cristian C. Moldes

Abba Joyce M. Muego

Allen Bobet B. Betonio

Wendy V. Culiao

Aaron Mar L. Mirafuentes

PREVALENT CRIME AMIDST PANDEMIC AND PREVENTION

STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTED BY PNP TORIL DISTRICT: BASIS FOR

CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAM

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The most common criminal occurrence from January 2020 to January 2021,

according to data received from the PNP Toril Police Station 8, is theft. This is

based on the monthly report crime statistics of the Police Station 8. The major

goal of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the PNP Toril Police Station

crime prevention tactics. According to Philippine News Agency(2020) Under

Gamboa's term, crime incidents in the country dropped by 47 percent as

community quarantine measures in the country amidst the Covid-19 have been in

effect for six months. During this time, then Joint Task Force Covid Shield

commander, Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, said from 31,661 incidents of focus

crimes recorded between Sept. 15, 2019 to March 16 2020, the figure dropped to

only 16,879 from March 17 to Sept. 16. The decline in crime incidents in the

country translates to an average of 92 cases per day during the 184 days of the

community quarantine compared to an average of 172 cases per day during

the six-month pre-quarantine. The article simply states that as a result of PNP

measures implemented during the Covid-19 Pandemic, crime rates, particularly

for focus offenses, have decreased. The figure depicts the total average of

national criminality. This aims to give a preliminary assessment of the PNP Toril
Station 8 response to the prevalence crime during COVID-19 pandemic. Using

crime statistics and existing studies of strategies of PNP Toril amidst pandemic

the study evaluates how the government has so far performed in key areas and

situates them within the resilience strategic framework Blanchet et. al (2017),

which is composed of four dimensions: knowledge, adaptability, legitimacy, and

interdependence. A year into the crisis, the Philippine government still has a lot

to improve in terms of managing and communicating information, adjusting to

unexpected shocks, building trust and legitimacy among the public, and forging

participation and interdependence among different actors and networks.

Improving these areas is vital in strengthening the resiliency of the security

system amidst the pandemic. With that, this paper provides further practical

considerations on how to reinforce the PNP toril response strategy in crime

prevention. In addition, some points for further study are also briefly discussed at

the end to further investigate the dynamics of the strategic planning in preventing

crime during COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, whether at the national or

local level. Many studies conducted about the effectiveness of PNP strategies

towards the prevalent crime during the Covid-19 pandemic which trying to seeks

to determine factors that greatly affects the crime prevention programs of PNP

towards the prevalence crimes in the state. At the onset of government- imposed

measures to manage the health crisis, the coercive apparatus of the state was

likewise given extensive roles and no less than Duterte himself constantly

underscored their importance in the state’s pandemic response apparatus.

Specifically, PNP was immediately put on the spotlight by Duterte during his first
press conference on the crisis, as they were instructed to coordinate with the

Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) 3  “to

ensure effective and orderly implementation” of public health measures to

mitigate the spread of COVID-19. In mobilizing PNP amid the pandemic, Duterte

assured the public: “It is not a martial law. It’s not even something extraordinary.

But what is sought—what is sought to be solved here is the again, walang

iba (nothing else) except to fight the virus and to

exact compliance” ( Duterte, 2020a ). Nevertheless, Duterte went on to militarize

the response apparatus by assigning significant roles to the military and members

of PNP to manage the society and by appointing former generals in vital positions

within the IATF-EID. On March 24, 2020, Duterte (2020b) announced that PNP

together with the Department of National Defense (DND), Department of Interior

and Local Government (DILG), and Armed Forces of the Philippines would be

implementing the National Action Plan, envisioned as the “overall national

strategy to deal with the COVID-19 problem and its aftermath” of the

government ( Gotinga & Tomacruz, 2020 ). Also, the National Task Force

(NTF), chaired by DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana with DILG Secretary

Eduardo Año as his co-chair and Peace Process Adviser Carlito Galvez as chief

implementer, was established to operationalize the policies of IATF-EID. Two

officials were later appointed to work under NTF: Department of Environment

and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu as the COVID-19 overseer for

Cebu City 4  and Baguio City mayor Benjamin Magalong as the country’s
“contact tracing czar.” 5  Lorenza, Año, Galvez, and Cimatu were all former

Philippine Army generals before being appointed by Duterte as

cabinet members, while Magalong was a former PNP Deputy Chief for

Operations before being elected as city mayor. Aside from militarizing the

response apparatus, PNP had also been provided a wider leeway to

instrumentalize violence amid the crisis. On April 1, 2020, a commotion between

the police and civilians arose in Barangay Bagong Pagasa, Quezon City

(see Figure 1). According to a report by Talabong (2020), the civilians were

residents of Sitio San Roque, a community occupied by low-wage workers that

had been severely affected by the lockdown. They reportedly arrived in the area

upon learning that relief will be provided to them. Instead of the anticipated aid,

however, they were unexpectedly met with violent force by the police which

resulted in the detention of 21 civilians (Luna, 2020a; Reysio-Cruz, 2020; Santos,

2020). COVID-19 had a significant impact on law enforcement, which continues

to work and adapt in order to protect the people. Several nationwide data

gathering projects were launched in the early months of the pandemic to learn

more about what police agencies were doing at the organizational level to combat

the problem. Individual officers' viewpoints, particularly how they felt about their

different agencies guaranteeing safety and balancing risk, were mostly absent

from these early debates. The Philippines has been under siege during the

pandemic, both as a result of the virus's attack and the Duterte administration's

hasty answers to the crisis. Rather than viewing the pandemic as a global health

threat, his government chose to focus on it as a security issue. As a result, former

military generals and members of the PNP were given positions of greater

authority in order to restore social order and play key roles within the state's

pandemic response machinery. This was highlighted when uniformed police

personnel sat behind Duterte during the announcement of the lockdown measures

enforced in the National Capital Region (NCR) on March 12, 2020, not only to

project the "optics of authority," but also as a "means of signaling this is now a

peace and order issue” (David, 2020). The use of coercive apparatus by the

Duterte-led government during the crisis can be understood by comparing it to

Migdal's (2001) argument about the importance of magnifying the state's sense of

invincibility. In a society dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's level

of power—or the people's perception of it—is critical, because the more powerful

the state is perceived to be, "the more likely subjects are to accept it in their

ordinary lives and, in the process, reduce the burden of enforcing all of its

dictates" (Migdal, 2001, pp. 114–115). Given the circumstances created by the

crisis, maintaining social order is arguably critical, putting the state, particularly

the executive authority, at the center of the issue, particularly in terms of how it

will enforce policies, effect public compliance, mobilize its coercive apparatus,

and mitigate the pandemic's negative effects. Nonetheless, the overt influence and

capabilities wielded by the coercive apparatus, particularly the Philippine

National Police (PNP), have been widely condemned in Duterte's Philippines.

Rather than being mobilized to maintain social order, Duterte has used the PNP to

strengthen his grasp on power and violate people's fundamental rights. In

handling the repercussions of a complex, viral, and existential threat like COVID-

19, the explicit and excessive mobilization of the state's coercive apparatus—

rather than public health specialists and epidemiologists—has clearly been

inefficient and destructive (Beltran, 2020; Juego, 2020; Teehankee, 2020).

Duterte immediately put the PNP in the spotlight during his first press conference

on the crisis, instructing them to coordinate with the Inter-Agency Task Force on

Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID)3 "to ensure effective and orderly

implementation" of public health measures to combat COVID-19 spread. "It is

not martial law," Duterte assured the public as the PNP was mobilized to combat

the virus. It's nothing out of the norm. But what's being sought—being what's

sought to be solved here is, once again, walang iba (nothing else) except to

combat the infection and enforce compliance" (Duterte, 2020a). Nonetheless,

Duterte went on to militarize the response apparatus by recruiting former generals

to key positions within the IATF-EID and assigning substantial duties to the

military and members of the PNP in managing society. Aside from militarizing

the response infrastructure, the PNP was also given more license to use violence

as a tool during the crisis.

Statement of the Problem

The main aim of this study is to determine and explain the prevalent crimes and

prevention strategies implemented by the PNP Toril District as basis for crime

prevenetion progam. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following question:

1. What is the level of prevalence crime of Toril District amidst pandemic?

2. Determine the prevalence crime of Toril District

3. To assess the strategy implemented by PNP Toril District basis for crime

prevention

4. To describe the relationship between the prevalent crime and the strategy

implemented by PNP Toril District

5. To determine the impact of prevention strategy implemented by PNP Toril

towards the prevalent crime: basis for crime prevention program

Hypothesis

Ho: There is no significant relationship between the prevalent crime and the

prevention strategies implemented by PNP Toril District

HA1: Prevelant crime is significantly associated with the prevention strategies

implemented by Toril PNP

Review Related Literature

This section presents the readings of the researchers on topic related to literature

reviewed which would help in the conceptualization of this study. The review

focuses on the prevalent crimes and prevetion strategies implemented by PNP of

Toril District: basis for crime prevention program.

Factors in crime occurence

Early criminology research attempted to show a link between crime and a variety

of influencing elements such as demographics [1], economics [10, 14, 22], and

unemployment [12, 13, 15]. These research have been going on for a long time,

demonstrating links between crime and numerous influencing factors. Kelly [14],

for example, looked at the relationship between inequality and crime in urban

counties in the United States and found that the most socially disadvantaged

people committed the most violent crimes; the study concluded that the most

disadvantaged members of society living in areas of high inequality faced greater

pressure and incentives to commit crime, leading to violent crimes. Hojman [12]

used a regression analysis to investigate inequality, unemployment, and crime in

Latin American cities, taking into consideration the diversity of cities and

indicating the significance of deterrents, poverty, and inequality as drivers of

crime. Poveda [10] investigated socioeconomic factors and violent crime in seven

Columbian communities. Several studies have looked into the trends of crime.

There are two types of patterns: spatial patterns and temporal patterns. Spatial

patterns refer to the location of crime, such as downtown, residential districts, and
entertainment districts, whereas temporal patterns refer to the time periods and

seasonality of crime. Using geographical data and victim characteristics, Liao et

al. [5] developed a Bayesian-based crime prediction model. They separated the

characteristics of crime scenes into two types of regions: private and public. They

next created a geographic profile, which is the probability distribution of crime

events, using a discrete distance decay function. Finally, geographic profiles were

integrated with Bayesian learning theory to accurately forecast the location of the

next criminal occurrence. Gorr et al. [4] presented a one-month time horizon

strategy for short-term crime prediction. They used data from five types of crimes

(aggravated assault, burglary, drugs, robbery, and simple assault) collected in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania between 1990 and 1998. They also used data from the

1990 Pittsburgh census, which included demographic, social, and educational

data. They compared ten statistical analysis approaches, including regression and

time-series analysis, in their research. They discovered seasonal patterns in crime

occurrences, such as general crimes being more prominent in the summer due to

increased social engagement, and burglaries and robberies being more prevalent

in the winter due to seasonal economic stresses, such as unemployment.

According to Statistic Research Department (2021), crime, violence, and

terrorism are all moderately high in the Philippines. In 2020, the country was

ranked in the bottom five of the Asia Pacific region's order and security rating.

The Philippines was also among the countries with the highest incarceration rate

per 100,000 people. Poorer neighborhoods and locations with more inhabitants

and higher unemployment had higher crime rates. The number of crimes
committed in the Philippines decreased dramatically in 2020 compared to the

previous year, which can be ascribed to the COVID-19 pandemic-related

lockdown limitations. The most common index or focus crime was theft,

followed by rape and physical injury. These were crimes that were regarded

significant in nature and occurred on a regular basis. In contrast, documented

occurrences of abuse against women and children, as well as cases of online

sexual abuse and exploitation, have steadily decreased in recent years.

Meanwhile, as more Filipinos use digital services, there has been an increase in

the number of cyberattacks in recent years.

Several academics have looked into how crime rates have changed with the

implementation of COVID-19. To say the least, the results have been

inconsistent, especially when comparing broad categories of crime across cities

and using different methodology and time periods. These early academic works,

on the other hand, are essentially noteworthy and ought to be highlighted.

Shayegh and Malpede (2020) found a 43 percent decline in crime in San

Francisco and a 50 percent drop in Oakland after the city issued some of the most

restrictive and early stay-at-home orders in the US, beginning March 16th, 2020

and lasting two weeks.

Another early research of eight significant US cities by Ashby (2020a) identified

varied consequences by crime type and location during the first few weeks of the

crisis (January to March 23rd—before some states and areas issued stay-at-home

orders). In Austin, Los Angeles, Memphis, and San Francisco, for example,

burglaries decreased, but not in Louisville or Boston. Serious public attacks, on

the other hand, decreased in Austin, Los Angeles, and Louisville, but not in other

places.

Felson, Jiang, and Xu (2020) looked at burglary in Detroit during three periods,

one before stay-at-home orders were in place and the other two after they were

(March 10th to March 23rd and March 24th to March 31st). Their data revealed a

32 percent decrease in burglary overall, with the third quarter showing the most

significant drop. However, in block groups with larger residential parcels, the

reduction was more pronounced than in mixed-use land areas.

Campedelli et al. (2020) used Bayesian structural time-series models to estimate

what crime would have been if the COVID-19 epidemic had not occurred in Los

Angeles across two time periods (the first ending March 16th and the second

ending March 28th). When the actual crime data was compared to the

estimated'sans-pandemic' data, the first model discovered a 5.6 percent reduction

in overall crime during the pandemic. Similarly, the second model (which ended

on March 28th) revealed a 15% decline. Researchers discovered that overall

crime rates declined dramatically, especially when it came to robbery (24

percent), shoplifting (14 percent), stealing (21 percent), and battery (11 percent).

Burglary, domestic violence, stolen automobiles, and homicide, on the other

hand, remained static.

While studies of calls for police service do not directly assess crime rates, they

can be used as an indirect measure of crime in a certain location. Early research

on 911 calls during the pandemic yielded varied results. Lum, Maupin, and Stoltz

(2020) discovered that in March of 2020, 57 percent of 1000 agencies polled in

the United States and Canada reported a decrease in service calls. In contrast,

Ashby (2020b) observed no obvious variation in projected demands for service in

10 major US cities between the first identified cases of COVID-19 in early March

and the first identified cases of COVID-19 in the US. However, once stay-at-

home orders were enforced, Ashby discovered that calls for service decreased,

though not uniformly across call kinds or cities. Mohler et al. (2020) analyzed

police calls for service in Los Angeles and Indianapolis between January and

mid-April, concluding that there was some impact on police calls for service, but

not across all crime categories or locations.

Internationally, Swedish researchers Gerell, Kardell, and Kindgren (2020) studied

crime in the five weeks following the implementation of government restrictions

on activities, finding an 8.8% drop in total reported crime despite the country's

relatively lax response (when compared to other countries' policies on restricting

public movement). Residential burglary decreased by 23 percent, commercial

burglary decreased by 12.7 percent, and pick-pocketing decreased by 61 percent,

according to the researchers; nevertheless, robberies and drugs crime remained

unchanged. At the lower end of the confidence interval, Payne and Morgan

(2020) found that assaults, sexual violations, and domestic violence were not

statistically different from what was projected under 'normal' conditions in March

in Australia. They warned against drawing any conclusions too quickly based on

this information because the government orders arrived only a few weeks into the

trial.
These preliminary reports show that crime rates have changed, although

inequitably across categories, types, locations, and periods. The highlighted

question of this pandemic among crime researchers will be, "Why have crime

rates plummeted so dramatically?" "What can be gained from this experience to

boost crime reduction in the future?" is the corollary. "The data and opportunity

available to every criminologist will provide near-endless research opportunities

at levels never seen before, and every effort should be made to collect data and

encourage the study of crime." This research note aims to identify and encourage

these lines of inquiry, to encourage researchers to delve deeply into the data made

available by the pandemic, and to provide the impetus for not only determining

why crime fell, but also for how to use this knowledge pragmatically once the

world emerges from seclusion.

The broad category of 'stealing' looks to be on the decline in many US cities

(Ashby, 2020a). Theft, on the other hand, is unlikely to be decreasing uniformly

across all categories. Consider the case of retail theft. After the stay-at-home

directives were imposed, the retail sector saw an 85 percent drop in foot traffic

(Jahshan, 2020); many stores are shuttered, reducing the chance for larceny and

employee theft. For example, Pietrawska et al. (2020a) found a 24 percent

decrease in shoplifting in Los Angeles, compared to a 5 percent decrease in

stealing across the city. However, in establishments that remain open, such as

supermarkets, construction supplies, convenience stores, pharmacies, and other

'necessary' retailers, theft may persist (and even rise). These thefts could be the

consequence of a shift in offender behavior (i.e., shifting from targeting a specific

store that is now closed to another that is open), panic buying (i.e., purchase

limits on vital supplies can lead to theft), or a reduction in store guardianship

(e.g., short-staffed employees are more focused on service than crime

prevention).

Pocket-picking, the clandestine removal of a wallet from a pocket or pocketbook

in a crowded place, is one of the most fascinating examples of criminal

specificity. This type of crime, probably more than any other, thrives among a

crowd. As previously mentioned, Swedish researchers (Gerell et al., 2020)

discovered that during the COVID-affected time, when crowd-reduction was

especially stressed, pocket-picking reduced by 61 percent in Stockholm. The

relevance of correlating specific changes in routines to specific forms of crime is

highlighted by these findings.

Correlations between Measures

This study aims to explain and determine the Prevalent Crimes Amidst Pandemic

and Prevention Strategies Implemented by PNP of Toril District as basis for

crime prevenetion. We all know that the COVID-19 outbreak is posing enormous

hurdles to police forces all around the world. These difficulties stem from the

complexity and huge scope of the tasks that the police are expected to carry out,

as well as the changing character of the police function during the pandemic. This

study also identify the frequent crimes in Toril Distirct and to assess their

strategies implemented by the PNP. Base on the data gathered, the most frequent

crime occurence from January 2020 to January 2021 is theft. Victims and other

targets, as well as their interactions with the environment or context, are now

known to play a significant influence in defining the opportunity structure

(Clarke and Cornish 1986) in which crimes occur and aggregate crime rates are

calculated. Since theft is the frequent crime occurs during pandemic, the

relevance of objectives and settings has prompted a number of further specialized

studies. Repeat victimization, or the recurrent criminal victimization of the same

persons, places, vehicles, or other targets, whatever defined, is becoming

increasingly the focus of research (Ratcliffe and McCullagh 1998; Pease 1998;

Farrell and Pease 2000). The negative binomial and other statistical techniques

have been used to incorporate recurrent victimization and the distribution of ime

in statistical models (Osborn et al. 1996; Osborn and Tseloni 1998; Tseloni and

Farrell 2002; Wittebrood et al. 2004). When offenders successfully victimize a

target, they learn that it is suitable, and that if it continues intact, they can
victimize it again - therefore successful crime increases the likelihood of a repeat.

These theories are consistent with the rational choice perspective of offending

(Becker 1968, Cornish and Clarke 1986, 2000), in which recurring victimization

is seen as the result of an offender's reasonable but basic cost-benefit calculation

(Bouloukos and Farrell 1997). In their analysis of the National Crime

Victimization Survey, Tseloni and Pease found evidence to support both

explanations for recurring personal victimization (Tseloni and Pease 2003).

Aside from completing the very difficult task of law enforcement operations, the

Philippine National Police (PNP) has fought an extraordinary battle this year,

involving an unseen enemies: the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic,

under the leadership of three distinct leaders. Following President Rodrigo

Duterte's appointment in January, Gen. Archie Gamboa became the PNP's top

man after serving as an officer-in-charge since October 2019. Gamboa's

leadership qualities were put to the ultimate test two months after assuming the

PNP chiefship, when he led the police force in maintaining peace and order while

also assisting in the prevention of the spread of Covid-19. Gamboa's term saw a

47 percent reduction in crime, due to community quarantine restrictions in place

for six months during the Covid-19 outbreak. Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, the

then-commander of Joint Task Force Covid Shield, revealed that from September

15, 2019 and March 16, this year, there were 31,661 cases of target crimes

recorded, but only 16,879 between March 17 and September 16. The PNP also

reported a 46 percent decrease in target crimes in the country over the 226-day

community quarantine period (March 17 to Oct. 28, 2020), with 21,729 crimes
compared to 39,920 prior to the community quarantine (Aug. 4, 2019 to March

16, 2020). This amounts to an average of 96 cases per day during the quarantine

period, down from an average of 177 cases per day before to the quarantine

period. The eight priority crimes are used by the Philippine National Police to

gauge the country's peace and order situation. Murder, homicide, bodily harm,

rape, robbery, theft, vehicle theft, and motorbike theft are among them.

Meanwhile, Gamboa, the PNP's 23rd chief (2021), noted that empowering people

has become a primary focus for him, stressing that the police force's most

valuable resource is its people. As a result, he claims, PNP operational units have

strengthened their positions in the fight against criminal activities, particularly in

the fight against illegal drugs, illegal gambling, and terrorism.

Theoritical Framework

This study is premised on the idea that prevalent crimes amidst pandemic and

prevention strategies implemented by PNP Toril District: Basis for crime

prevention. This study is anchored on Routine Activity Theory, the theory

suggest that people’s behavior to becomes agressive but that this does not lead to

an increase in crime. According to the routine activity theory , people are more

active in warm weather, which leads to increased human interaction, implying

that the rsik of crime increases. However, several research have found no

evidence of seasonally in crime occurence. An increasing collection of evidence

exists regarding the elements that put people at risk of criminal behavior.

Theoretical approaches to explaining the link between those risk factors and

criminal conduct were addressed. There is no agreement on the relative merits of

these hypotheses, and it is possible that the postulated incidental mechanisms are

to blame. Most crime prevention programs are founded on one or more of the

theoretical understandings of crime, often implicitly. As a result, even when

focused on practical solutions, it is beneficial to be aware of the various

theoretical justifications for crime.

Human cognition and its development, as well as how this relates to criminal

behavior, are the subject of psychological theories. Psychology offers a variety of

viewpoints on the causes of crime. Theories examining the relationship between

crime and an individual's personality, social variables, cognition, and

development are particularly important. Individual, family, group, and society

psychology are all addressed in different ways in these psychological theories.

The role of parents in terms of factors such as child-rearing practices, attachment,

neglect, abuse, supervision, and the parents' own anti-social or criminal behavior

has been identified in the development of individual characteristics and any

criminal propensities, according to psychological literature. Early intervention

programs in health and education that assist children's healthy development; and

promoting positive parenting practices, which have been linked to a reduction in

risk-taking, anti-social behavior, and alcohol and other drug misuse by teens,

according to study.

Another theory that concerned with where crime occurs and how physical

settings encourage or discourage criminal activity is Geographic Theory.

Geographic theories of crime concentrate on analyzing data on the geographic

distribution of crime, altering the physical environment to minimize the chance of

crime, and focusing activities on high-crime areas. It is possible to uncover trends

in data regarding the geographic distribution of crime that can be utilized to

inform crime prevention efforts. Geographic theories of crime prevention that

concentrate on the physical environment tend to focus on how urban planning,

building design, and public space design affect crime, as well as how physical

settings can be transformed to make businesses and dwellings more crime-

resistant (sometimes called situational crime prevention). Using lighting and

better design pedestrian flow to reduce crime in an area at night, or planning

licensed premises so that patrons do not come into conflict as they leave; and

using information about the distribution of crime in a neighborhood to develop an

area-specific crime prevention plan with the local community are examples of

responses based on geographic theories of crime.

Lastly, economic theories focus on how incentives influence criminal behavior.

Individuals respond rationally to the costs and rewards of criminal opportunities,

according to the economic theory of crime. As a result, factors that raise the

expected costs of crime (for example, raising the possibility of apprehension or

the severity of punishment) while lowering the expected benefits (for example,

greater educational or job possibilities) might reduce the prevalence of crime.

 Conceptual Framework

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

IV V

Prevalent Crimes Prevention Strategies

Figure 1- Conceptual Framework of the Study

Significance of the Study

The findings of the study will bring benefits to the following:

The results of the study will help the PNP of Toril District to develop their

strategies in combating criminality in the community: providing them new

information and knowledge. Further, this study will provide them new insights of

how and why a certain crime exist: thus, enable them to re-establish strategies in

combating prevalent crimes within the community.

The findings of the study will also help the people of Toril enable them to knew

what are the prevalent crimes of Toril District.

Moreover, findings of the study will also provide educational institutions which

new insights relevant to study and community: thus, result of the study can also

serve as basis for future planning, decisions, in terms of crime prevention and

supression. Finally, results of the study will provide future researchers with

baseline information for future similar research to conducted.

Definition of Terms

Prevalence- the fact or condition of being prevalent; commonness.

Mitigate- make less severe, serious, or painful.

Coercive- relating to or using force or threats.

Clandestine- kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit.

Repercussions- an unintended consequence occurring some time after an event

or action, especially an unwelcome one.

Scope and Delimitations

This study shall be limited only to the prevalent crimes amidst pandemic and
prevention strategies implemented by PNP of Toril District basis for crime
prevention program. This study shall also be limited to the PNP Toril District.
This study is also limited during the pandemic from January 2020 to January
2021, as it only includes annual information from the PNP Toril District Station
8.
Due of the pandemic and the government's strict implementation of health
procedures, there will be designated personnel for data collection in order to
prevent the spread of the Corona virus.
 Chapter 2

METHODS

This section discusses the important details about the implementation of the study

presented herein are the research design, research locale, respondents of the

study; sampling technique, research instrument - data collection procedure, data

analysis and ethical consideration of the study.

Research Design

The non-experimental quantitaive descreptive correlational design is used in the

study since it is focused on describing comparing, and measuring the level of

prevelance crime and the strategies implemented by PNP of Toril District, further

this study explored the relationship between the strength of Relevance Crime and

strategies implemented by PNP of Toril District: Descriptive Research depicts an

image or a picture of an individual or a group. While Correlative Research Shows

an extent and direction of variable relationships either the existence of positive or

negative relationship (Braceros, 2017).

Research Locale

This study was conducted at PNP Toril District since this study focuses on

prevalence crime amidst pandemic and prevention strategies implemented by

Toril PNP espicifically the investigation unit. Futhermore, this study are for PNP

Toril District.

Respondents and Sampling Technique.

The Respondents of the study are the Investigation Unit of Toril PN. The used

purposive sampling in choosing at least 10 members of Investigation unit of Toril

PNP: choosing these respondents is based on the judgement on the background

information of the potential respondents of the study (Baraceras, 2017).

Research Instrument

A Researcher made, Prevalent crimes amidst pandemic and prevention stragtegies

implemented by PNP of Toril District. Survey questionnaire was used as a tool or

an instrument for data collection. The Research Instrument are divided into 2

parts. The first: The first part is prevention strategy survey questionnaire pertains

to the measurement of the respondents prevention strategy using the 5 point likert

scale. Indicators were ratings of frequency such as, always, sometimes, often,

seldom, and never.

The second part of instrument is the prevalent crime survey questionnaire are

divided into parts the first part has 5 items the instrument used 4 point likert scale

were degree of responses are: strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree and
disagree shall be used to describe the range interpretation. The second part of the

instrument has 5 item questionnaire which focueses on eight (8) focus crime shall

be used to determined the prevalents crime amidst pandemic.

Face and content validation was set prior to the administration of the research

instrument Treece (1996) states that the instruments selected a research should be

the obtain data for drawing conclusions pertaining to study.

Data collection procedure.

to the Department Head of Criminal Justince of Education; The Researcher also

submitted to the Station Commander of Toril PNP for the collection of

information from the respondents.

Upon approval, the reseaPrior to data collection a letter of permission to conduct

the study was submitted rchers asked the consent of the respondents to their

participation of the study. During the collection of the respondents information

about prevalent crimes and prevention strategies. A briesf orientation were given

in relation of the purpose if the study. Its significance and the guarantee of the

confidentiality of respondents information. The respondents were given at least

465 minutes ti give their responses on the items provided.

Data Collection Procedure

In the Research instrument. Any clarifications during process of administration of

data collection were attended immediately.

Finally, after filling up the Research instrument the data were tabulated on the

excel spreedsheets counterchecking were done to ensure the accuracy of encodes

data.
Data Analysis

The following statistical tool were used in the data processing and analysis of

results. Frequency count and percentage distribution was used to describe the

proportion of the sample of prevalent crimes. Mean and Standard deviation was

used to measure the prevalent crimes and prevention strategies. Independent

sample T-TEst was used to compare Prevalent crime and prevention strategies.

Lastly person product moment correlation was used to measure degree and

significance of Relationship between prevalent crimes and prevention strategies.

The null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 significance.

Ethical Considerations

The researchers of this study strictly followed the confidentiality of the gathered

data of the respondents. The researchers also abided by existing intellectual ways

and copyrights by citing the names of the auhtors whose writing were used in this

study. Finally, the researchers are honest in the findings of the study.