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Date Published: 08/09/2021
ARCHIVED - San Vicente del Raspeig Local Police overwhelmed with burglaries
The Alicante police force has been claiming for years that it is grossly understaffed
The sprawling Alicante municipality of San Vicente del Raspeig experienced a wave of home burglaries over the last weekend in August, most of which were concentrated in the Pozo San Antonio area, in addition to a large increase in the number of traffic accidents. As a result, Local Police are feeling the pressure, and have been complaining for some time that there are not enough officers for the population.
Of the 74 agents assigned to the town, 15 are currently on sick leave, 9 of whom have been off work long-term. According to the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, the ideal number of officers is 1.8 per 1,000 inhabitants, which means that the San Vicente Local Police should have 108 officers on its payroll.
Mayoress Mariela Torregrosa voiced her concern that several emergency calls may have gone unanswered on the weekend of August 27 due to any available officers being dispatched to the house break-ins, while an increased number of home invasions have been reported throughout the year.
The Councillor for Security, José Manuel Ferrándiz, assured that there are always two police patrols scheduled for the same time but that since November there have certainly been occasions when only one was on duty for no more than an hour. In order to alleviate the pressure, the mayoress confirmed that in recent weeks 16 new positions were approved for officers, along with 15 more vacancies. The only delay now in appointing them, suggested Torregrosa, is the hiring processes dictated by Human Resources.
Unions such as the SPPLB have pointed out that ‘it is evident to everyone that we are not providing a security service to the public or to the agents themselves,’ adding that ‘during the last three years we have gone back 20.’
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