Security and civility will be two priority areas for the government of Jaume Collboni. And although action will be taken throughout Barcelona, the most vulnerable neighborhoods will be the first, especially Ciutat Vella, a key territory because it is the one that receives the most pressure, both from residents and visitors. The mayor explained it this Friday after visiting the Urban Police station in this district together with his third lieutenant, Albert Batlle, where they held a first meeting with the head of the police force, Mayor Pedro Velázquez, whom he expressed its full support.
"I want to express our confidence and pride in having an Urban Police like Barcelona", said the mayor, who wanted to highlight the role played by the municipal police "so that people live calmly and feel safe", a phrase with which He outlined his goals. “You are the most visible face of the City Council – he harangued the agents and managers present at the event – without you the city does not work, you are on the front line to help people, I will be by your side”.
After thanking Collboni for his words and reiterating his commitment, Velázquez recalled that nearly 400 Urban Police officers work in Ciutat Vella, a district that "every day thousands of people visit to have fun, study, work, interact" and that also suffers “those negative externalities that being successful in the city entails and that we have to control”. The mayor recalled that the body he directs must not only combat criminal activity, in this case in coordination with the Mossos d'Esquadra, "also all this block of behaviors closely related to coexistence that are very important because they impact on the perception of citizenship”.
The idea of a hardened city, which has already become the mantra of the new socialist municipal government, has two of its pillars in security and civility, which are added to other areas of impact for which Collboni has already announced short-term actions , such as the cleaning of public spaces, which it intends to improve by increasing inspections of concessionary companies. "We want the city to be cared for, clean, protected, that people feel safe," he reiterated.
The mayor recalled that "a progressive government is one that believes that security is a public right" because without it "there is no progress, no democracy or equality" and, therefore, he warned that he will not admit that someone "wants to take advantage of it to attack the values of coexistence”. In this sense, he pointed out the need to "prioritize prevention against sexist violence, let's say things by their name, LGTBI phobic or racist aggressions that today take place in our city in minority groups in an environment of certain condescension in some areas politicians and some hate speech. The action also happens, Collboni added, to "attend again the concept of security from the point of housing or health emergencies." Because, he insisted, "security policies are above all preventive ones" and this entails "guaranteeing social policies."
The commitment to Ciutat Vella, which already has its own commissioner, Ivan Pera, in addition to the councilor, who is the deputy mayor Albert Batlle, responsible for the Prevention and Security area, includes, among other measures, the preparation of a strategic plan in both subjects for the district, which is almost ready, as announced by Collboni. And also increase the presence of uniformed police officers, a measure that can be extended to the whole of Barcelona, although especially in the center, which, the mayor stressed, should be materialized in more Urban Police and also in more Mossos d'Esquadra. Likewise, he defended greater coordination between the different bodies and that they work with a metropolitan vision.
As for the presence of the Catalan police in Barcelona, Collboni recalled that the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, "committed last February by writing to the Parliament to deploy 600 more agents, especially for work to fight crime ".
Another planned action is the revision of the ordinance of civility and coexistence, to adapt it to the new reality and increase its penalty regime, a measure announced by the mayor in the electoral campaign that he wants to undertake with the maximum political and social support.
