National Police: Property crime down in Limón from last year

The number of property crimes in the Caribbean province of Limón fell during the first six months of this year compared to figures from 2016, the National Police confirmed this week.

The report comes from the police’s Analysis and Statistics Department and also includes data from the Judicial Investigation Police.

The inform states that police received a total of 2,512 complaints for property crimes. The figure represents a 13.6 percent drop, or 394 complaints fewer than those recorded in the same period of 2016.

Property crimes in the report include complaints for robbery, home robbery, burglary, vehicle theft, auto burglary, and theft of livestock.

Crimes by type

Burglary is the crime that saw the largest decrease in the inter-annual comparison. Police agencies received a total of 220 complaints in the past six months, representing 57 more — or 20.5 percent — less than in the same period last year.

Armed robbery fell 13.7 percent. Police recorded 327 complaints this year, and 379 in 2016.

Figures of vehicle theft in the Caribbean province also went down from 151 in the first half of 2016 to 115 this year, a 23.8 percent drop.

The report noted that crimes against property also declined slightly across the country. Between January and June 2016, police precincts in all seven provinces received a total of 28,310 complaints for property crimes. The figure for the same months this year fell to 27,812.

That represents 498 complaints less across the country, or a decline of 1.8 percent.

Boost in security

Government efforts to bolster security in Limón followed a shootout on a Caribbean beach that left five people dead on Oct. 2, 2016. Top Public Security Ministry officials met in the province on Oct. 5 and pledged to enforce a plan to curb the wave of violence in the region.

As a first action, National Police Director Juan José Andrade sent 400 additional police officers to conduct patrols at the province’s most conflict-ridden neighborhoods.

Public Security Minister Gustavo Mata promised at the time that extra police surveillance would continue in the province until they manage to control the situation.