Cities empty in July and August as citizens use the opportunity to travel or escape the heat of the city. With the residences empty, robbers take advantage of the situation by performing home invasions, street robberies, and brawls.
However, in response to this surge in crime, the number of 18 Local Police patrols was cut in half between July and August, according to the SIME union. Worse, no specific reinforcing plans are in place this summer.
“Due to holidays, the number of cops is cut in half between July and August. There can only be 25 officers each shift.”We reported this last year, and they still haven’t done anything,” says Antonio Jesús Álvarez Rex, coordinator of the SIME Police section at Murcia City Council.
He warns that there is a systemic lack of personnel. “At one point, the political goal was to recruit 2,000 police officers, but the fact is that with what we have, we can’t even cover the present number.”The problem isn’t just one of quantity but of priorities,” Rex exclaims angrily. Given the city’s features, he maintains that “1,000 to 1,200 police officers would be required to provide a quality service.”
Given that one of their primary concerns is security, “it is evident that the police have become more of a force promoting tourists and events than a guarantee of civilian safety at night. “They’re not there to cover parties or recreational activities,” he clarifies.
“If minimal services existed, we would know that there should be, say, 30 police officers every night. If the number is 26, the City Council assigns an additional four officers. But without minimum services, the City Council schedules as it sees fit, freeing up people to attend parties or overnight marches,” he argues.
“Cartagena provides basic services. And so do the Murcia City Council firefighters. We’ve tried to negotiate minimal services both actively and passively, but the response has always been negative because it costs money, and the chiefs have always supported the City Council’s decision,” he explained. In response to the City Council’s announcement that 56 new officers will be added this summer, he requests that they be placed to district and night shifts.
Several Murcia neighbourhood organisations, including Barrios del Carmen, Abenarabi, San Basilio, and Vistabella, have already expressed concern about the lack of security on Murcia’s streets.
The Carmelites allege that “the neighbourhood is in terrible shape in terms of security because there are bag snatchings, chain snatchings involving neck struggles against elderly and women, as well as constant thefts from neighbourhood businesses, which creates a great deal of insecurity.” Residents are also reluctant to walk out on the streets, especially around dark and night. “Some people are even considering selling their homes,” says Javier Motje of the Murcia el Carmen Neighbourhood Association. He says, “These types of crimes are committed during the day, afternoon, and night.” It is getting worse. “This did not happen a year ago.”
A situation that is duplicated in the Abenarabi neighbourhood, where people complain that “citizen insecurity and begging have increased significantly.” What is happening is unfathomable; it has never happened before. According to Toñi Valiente, president of the Abenarabi Association, a group of young people encircled him around 11 p.m. and forced him to seek refuge in a pub for an hour before police arrived.
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