DPS: Crime rate has gone down since pandemic started

The Department of Public Safety has seen a significant drop in the CNMI’s crime rate following the strict curfew hours set by the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force.

According to DPS Commissioner Robert Guerrero, crime has gone down and he believes the strict curfew hours is the reason for this, as well as compliance of members of the community.

“We do come across people who don’t abide by curfew and our officers do stop them and advise them and they comply. We have never had to make an arrest for it. Aside from the arrest at the airport [when one incoming passenger refused to be put in quarantine], we’ve never had to make an arrest relating to COVID-19. People are cooperating, and the task force is doing a good job in putting the necessary procedures in place,” he said.

DPS spokesperson Dre Pangelinan said that traffic cases, like crime, have also gone down tremendously because of the curfew.

However, DPS is still working on the exact figures on how many crime incidents occurred since the government shut down and implemented strict curfew laws back in March. “During that time, when no one was on the roadways, majority of the people that were out on the streets were first responders and it helped first responders get to where they needed to be and without having the risk of coming into contact with any other vehicle,” Pangelinan said.

He said the curfew helped the department a lot and that DPS has also stopped issuing updates on how many dispatch calls they receive over the week because calls that come in are now nearly almost all COVID-19-related.

“The numbers have really gone down so I didn’t really need to send out updates on that. Most of the inquiries coming in were about COVID-19 and COVID-19-related issues so we have had to direct these issues to the task force,” he said.

Pangelinan said that during the first week of the implementation of the curfew, DPS officers immediately enforced the curfew laws, both on the roadways and through social media.

“We had officers out on the roadways making sure that residents are aware of the curfew. We have also posted it and we have sent out a press release that specifically states details of the curfew,” he said.

However, Pangelinan said the department also gives credit to members of the community for making DPS’ job of enforcing the curfew laws easier. “Toward the beginning, everybody was aware because during that time, everybody was in quarantine and everybody was on their mobile devices and they were quick to disseminate the information to their friends and families and that really helped us out a lot,” he said.