La Garrotxa is protected with the installation of various video surveillance cameras at strategic points in the region. These devices are directly connected to the Mossos d'Esquadra, who are sent an alert if the camera detects a suspicious license plate.
In this way, agents can know the area in which the vehicle is moving and take preventive measures before an incident occurs. This is the solution that the Garrotxa Regional Council has found to address the "evident" lack of police forces, a lack that is especially noticeable in 20 of the 21 municipalities that make up the region and that do not have a Local Police. The only town that does have its own police force is the capital, Olot, which has led the mayors of the small towns to request a greater Mossos presence in the region.
Starting next month, the towns of La Garrotxa will have a security device that they have been waiting for for a long time. Despite some delays in the bidding processes, many mayors who requested cameras at the entrances to the region will finally have this tool at their disposal. The objective is to take measures against robberies in an area that is especially vulnerable due to its large area, scattered houses and scarce police presence.
Indeed, this is the main demand of both the town mayors and the Regional Council itself: the need to have more Mossos agents to carry out patrols. The problem is that many of these towns have farmhouses or widely dispersed inhabited areas, which attracts thieves. All the mayors recognize the "very good work carried out by the Mossos", but emphasize that "they are not enough" to cover an area as large as that of La Garrotxa.
Therefore, the solution to facilitate the work of the Mossos has been to install cameras at the entrances and exits of the region. Some of these cameras are located at the roundabout at the entrance to Besalú, to cover suspicious vehicles entering from Girona or leaving in that direction.
Another is located at the back of the Bracons tunnels to keep track of those that operate entering or leaving from Ripollès. In addition, there will also be cameras at the Canya roundabout if thieves head towards that area. In Les Planes d'Hostoles, cameras have been installed at the entrance, and in addition, they are coordinated with those of Sant Gregori for thieves who circulate on the C-63.
The mayor of Les Planes, Marc Puig, points out that this time is when thieves are most active, coinciding with winter and the time change that makes it get dark early. "We are worried and we know that resources are limited, but our complaint to the Department of the Interior is always the same: we need more Mossos," he emphasizes.
Lluís Bosc is a resident of Les Planes. He lives in a secluded area with his wife and says that a while ago his house was broken into while they were sleeping. "I realized when I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and saw that they had mixed everything up," he laments. He explains that since then he has not slept "completely peacefully", but he trusts that the cameras will facilitate the work of the Mossos and deter thieves.
The Garrotxa Regional Council explains that some towns were initially reluctant to install cameras, but have now expressed their willingness to do so as soon as possible. In this sense, the president of the Consell, Santi Reixach, explains that the initiative has a broad consensus among the towns and citizens. "It's about preventing robberies in homes. We need these cameras," he emphasizes.
Reixach has also pointed out that community collaboration is "very important" to detect possible thieves entering or leaving the town. In fact, the action of several residents of La Pinya, in the Vall d'en Bas, managed to thwart a robbery in a house by thieves.
