The FEMP is calling for a shock plan to reinforce local police forces with training and personnel.
Press Release of July 28, 2017
Abel Caballero and Juan Ignacio Zoido emphasize the importance of joint action to strengthen security and cooperation.
The FEMP and the Interior Ministry place the Local Security Boards at the centre of collaboration against terrorism.
The President of the FEMP, Abel Caballero, has asked this morning that, as soon as possible, the necessary shock measures be undertaken to reinforce local police forces, both in terms of training and personnel, and has stressed the importance of cooperation between local bodies and other Security Forces and Corps in the fight against terrorism.
This was stated after the meeting held with the Minister of the Interior, Juan Ignacio Zoido, within the framework of the coordination of all the State institutions in the fight against jihadist terrorism, a meeting in which both parties have shown their full willingness to collaborate and the importance of joint action.
Caballero stressed that “Mayors know very well what security means” and assured that “when the terrorist threat is there, we must all be together in action, within the framework of our powers, to transmit a feeling of security to citizens.”
Along these lines, he recalled that in Spain there are 70.000 local police officers who perform “local police” functions and assume the role of “security in the vicinity”. “The Local Police have information from the vicinity,” he said, “but we need information from other areas” because, he added, security is strengthened through exchange and collaboration. “This is how we add operatives,” he said.
The President of the FEMP and the Minister announced that future working meetings will be held. The Ministry of the Interior will send the FEMP a draft outlining the lines of collaboration with local police forces. The FEMP will review the draft and make its contributions so that they can be implemented as soon as possible.
Local Security Boards, an ideal space
The ideal place for exchange and collaboration, also highlighted by the Minister, are the Local Security Boards, “where all the Corps and Forces are” which, according to Caballero, “are a factor of cohesion for security”. In this sense, he advocated for meeting them more frequently.
Regarding protocols and actions to prevent terrorist attacks, the President of the FEMP defended the ad hoc plans because “each city has its own characteristics and this cannot be planned from afar, but rather from each city, even from each environment” of the city. In this sense, he stressed that the Local Security Boards are the ones that know the urban map best and that, therefore, they are the ideal space to establish specific procedures.
Regarding initiatives such as the placement of bollards or flower pots in certain spaces, Caballero stated that “it is important to instil security and peace in citizens”, but guaranteeing the freedom of people and, above all, keeping in mind at all times that “we must combine security with accessibility”, and prevent the installation of these barriers from limiting other fundamental issues such as, for example, the intervention of emergency services, issues that are already taken into consideration by the Local Security Boards.
Strengthening of staff
The President of the FEMP also referred to the need to reach at least 100% replacement rate of officers in local police forces, a particularly relevant measure if one takes into account the upcoming early retirement of some of these officers and, as he pointed out, the time required to train new agents.
He therefore called for opening the call for local police positions as soon as possible, in order to shorten the time for new agents to enter the workforce. At this point he thanked the Ministry itself for its collaboration and assured that in order to carry out this action the Councils will not ask for new funding, but will use resources from Chapter 1 of their Budgets.
Thank you.
A greeting.
