LAHORE: Police claim that the crime rate in the provincial capital showed a 46pc reduction in heinous crimes in October 2024, compared to the same month last year.

They prepare a report based on the data collected from the emergency helpline 15, detailing the decrease in crime.

The officers claim that police adopted multiple strategies to control crime. The strategies include strict criteria for posting of SHOs and shifting the focus to the peak crime timings between 4pm to midnight.

Presented by Lahore Operations DIG Faisal Kamran, the report claims that October 2023 had 5,814 reported heinous crime incidents but the number came down to 2,663 during the same month this year. It states that one of the most notable declines was observed in reported robbery cases, which decreased by a staggering 77pc as October 2023 had 1,577 cases of robbery whereas the number of cases was only 441 during the last month this year. Burglary cases also saw a 39pc drop from 466 in October last year to 288 in October this year.

The report further claims that a breakthrough was achieved in preventing car snatching at gunpoint as not a single incident was reported in October 2024. Furthermore, the city witnessed 62pc cut in motorcycle snatching, 52pc in car theft and 43pc decline in motorbike theft in October 2024.

About the total crime against property, it reported that 26,044 incidents were reported last month, a noticeable improvement from the 31,170 cases recorded during the same month in 2023.

The Lahore Operations DIG attributed the progress to the use of advanced technology as well to identify crime hotspots and track the criminals. He said the data from 15 proved invaluable in mapping crime patterns and devising strategies accordingly.

Mr Kamran also credited the reduction in crime to enhanced human intelligence.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2024