THERE was nothing but crime stories that dominated the front pages of Davao City’s about half a dozen newspaper dailies, giving readers a feeling of déjà vu. There was this provincial governor and town mayor accused of being behind the murder of a journalist, a Filipino-Chinese businessman snatched by kidnappers in a nearby city, the gang-rape of a volunteer nurse, the killing of a 6-year old girl by a playmate, among other hair-raising events that that tell of our violent times.
There was something positive that happed though. This was the identification of two robbery suspects, a man and woman, after fleeing the area where they had held up a taxicab driver in Matina Pangi and brought the cab to Barangay Aquino, Agdao dawn of Thursday. The closed-circuit television camera installed near the crime scene, captured the images the identity of the suspects, without them knowing of the high-tech installation.
When the CCTV camera recording was presented to the Sta. Ana Police station, the police officers recognized the male suspect to be Roberto Jarani, alias Boting, a police character who had been earlier detained for a string of robbery cases, the latest of which was a break-in of a pawnshop.
The incident is proof that investing public money in high-tech crime fighting equipment pays off. The police should maximize utilization of such equipment so the investment will not go to naught.
It is also important that the equipment will be upgraded continuously given that the criminal mind will always endeavor to outsmart the police. This is the continuing battle between good and evil.
