LAHORE: The Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA) has conducted a comparative analysis of street crime during the last 12 months reported in Lahore while sharing the details showing the highest and lowest ratio of ‘Lahore-15 calls’.

It has dispatched the report to the provincial police authorities with a prime purpose to make it part of the official meetings in order to devise further strategies to provide relief to the citizens, taking into account the trend of ‘crime calls’.

In the report, the authority elaborated statistics against various categories of the reported crime of each month with variation in ratio and the number of registered crimes.

In the PSCA system, a genuine crime call is considered an authentic complaint of a citizen that is liable to be lodged as a first information report (FIR) with the respective police station.

Lahore witnesses decline in all categories of crime

The report stated that the provincial capital witnessed a ‘visible’ decline in ‘crime calls of all categories’ during the last three months - from November 2021 to January 2022.

The statistics said the city witnessed a sharp surge in the reported crime against property and persons in a specific period from June to October of last year.

The report said 5,278 calls of crime against property were made on Lahore-15 in June which increased to 5,825 in July (10.4 per cent), 5,977 in August (2.6pc), 6,087 in September (1.8pc) and 6,534 in October (7.3pc).

The crime against property included dacoity, robbery, burglary, vehicle snatching and theft.

However, in the November-January period, the crime ratio decreased, according to the report.

Like, it said, the calls dropped to 6,052 (7.4pc) in November, 5,556 (8.2pc) in December and 3,944 in January (29pc).

The overall crime ratio against property (crime calls) decreased by 44.6pc during the last three months.

Almost the same was the case with the crime against a person that included murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping or assault (domestic violence and street fight).

The city witnessed a 46pc decline in reported crime against persons during the same last three months as Lahore-15 received 12,013 calls in November (10pc), 11,626 in December (3pc) and 7,838 calls in January (33pc drop).

It reported that the citizens made 10,162 calls on 15 about crime against persons in January 2021 that increased to 11,429 next month and 13,854 in March. The call trend showed a continued increase in the next months.

However, the last year’s August was the most troubled month when 15,452 citizens reported complaints about crime against persons including murder and attempted murder, the highest figures recorded during the last 12 months in Lahore followed by 13,750 in September and 13, 348 in October.

The PSCA segregated the reported calls, saying 39 calls of dacoities were made in November which later dropped to 28 in December and 29 in January 2022.

Similarly, in January last year, 1,894 crime calls of robberies and vehicle snatching were reported in Lahore on 15 which continued to increase as October reported most calls - 2,101.

Later, the calls dropped in November, December and January [2022], constituting total 40pc ratio, the PSCA report said.

The robberies on the roads and in the shops have been a matter of serious concern for the Lahore police as is evident from the crime rate.

The PSCA said 984 incidents of robberies on the road and 199 in the shops were reported on Lahore-15 by the citizens in October, the highest one recorded during the last 12 months.

The crime against road and shop robberies decreased by 66pc and 51pc during the last three months of November, December and January.

The authority said again October recorded most calls 787 of vehicle snatching which later dropped to 717 in November, 696 in December and 485 in January 2022, constituting a total of 42pc decline.

Similarly, it claimed that the crime of vehicle theft including cars, and motorbikes had witnessed a sharp surge in the five months - from June 2021 to October – as Lahore-15 has been receiving on average 3,000 calls every month.

Most of the vehicle theft calls [3,589] were recorded in October which later declined to 3,359 in November, 2,827 in December and 1,937 in January, constituting a total 53pc decrease in three months.

A police official said the crime call trend showed a little respite in Lahore in the last three consecutive months and it must be maintained to save the life and properties of the citizens.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2022