Insecurity continues to be the main concern of Barcelona residents. The surveys say it and the neighbors verbalize it in any forum. It doesn't matter what the statistics say or whether the figures are compared to periods before the pandemic or not. Complaints are nothing more than one part of a complex reality in which the feeling that a person has when they do not feel safe has more and more weight. Be that as it may, the comparison of the first semesters, that of 2023 and that of the previous year, confirms the worsening of crime in practically all chapters. An upward trend that makes us wonder: “Can something be done? Are legal tools that crime has already taken the measure of and evade with increasing impunity still useful? A few agents from the commercial and business sphere of Barcelona have once again taken a step forward. They have commissioned lawyer Emilio Zegrí a report with proposals that the sector will promote next year with the desire to “alleviate” figures that, as the author himself warns, “must be reversed.”
The report, to which La Vanguardia has had access, is the second part of another that the lawyer already signed in 2019 and that was presented at Foment del Treball. This time it is once again the employers' association, Amics del Passeig de Gràcia, Saba Barcelona, the Gremi d'Hotels, Barcelona Oberta and the Col.legi de l'Advocacia, among others, who share the problem and feel challenged to offer some proposals that the author lists in his work after an analysis of the current situation. Zegrí has already shared his reflections with those responsible for the Mossos d'Esquadra, the Barcelona Urban Guard, the National Police and the Civil Guard.
The lawyer analyzes the multiple recidivism reform that came into force in July 2022 and that is not giving the expected results. The author explains how the PSOE and PNV amendment to the initial proposal of the defunct PDECat “minimized the positive effects.” Because? To apply the aggravating circumstance that transforms the minor crime of theft into a less serious crime, the offender must have three previous convictions. But, and here is the mess, the sum of the previous subtractions must be greater than 400 euros. One may think that this sum is made after a simple consultation. Well no. In practice, having this information is such a complex and cumbersome task that “it has boycotted the reform.”
Judges are obliged to request the sentence from each of the courts that issued it to calculate the value of what they stole, although sometimes that value is not recorded. Zegrí proposes eliminating this amendment and returning to the judge the criteria to decide in each case, according to the circumstances, the sentence.
Barcelona police officials know that they are risking it in the Copa del América. They and the economic sectors of the city know it. For Zegrí, the event is an opportunity that cannot be wasted to promote reinforcement measures against insecurity in a few weeks that will lead to greater criminal activity. The lawyer proposes to talk to the organization through the Fundació Barcelona Capital Nàutica, which coordinates the administrations to ensure the legacy that the competition will leave in the city. And let the organization be the one to endorse the request for a third court for minor crimes. Now, with two reinforcements working, he will summon the detainees in May of next year.
The report places special emphasis on the judiciary. It is difficult for magistrates to obtain data from previous sentences to apply the aggravating circumstance of multiple recidivism. For this reason, it proposes a reform of the database of the Central Registry of Penalties and Rebels so that, when making a query, one has quick access to the full content of the sentences.
But even if it were easier to apply the aggravating circumstance of multiple recidivism, another problem appears that once again works in favor of the offender. The paradox occurs that the crime of which you would be accused stops being a minor theft and becomes less serious. Therefore, a quick trial is no longer possible and the matter is referred to the criminal courts. Courts that are overwhelmed, without reinforcements, with complicated calendars and agendas that delay the process. And, as if that were not enough, after the sentence, the convicted person can appeal, and that appeal falls on another collapsed body, the Barcelona Court, which can take up to two years to resolve. Hence, Zegrí proposes urgent reinforcement and that certain flagrant crimes, punishable by up to five years, can be quickly prosecuted. For example, minor crimes of theft and also those carried out with violence, intimidation or force. All are crimes that are of particular concern to citizens and that affect the image of the city "due to their severity and frequency." Without forgetting that the law already requires that these typologies be judged within a period of two months. An unthinkable calendar at this time.
Zegrí also refers to criminal occupation which, in his opinion, is already part of the mechanism of “criminal tourism.” Criminal organizations that move their thieves through the main European cities looking for the best setting for their misdeeds. A practice, that of occupation to commit a crime, for which the lawyer requests a new legal approach.
The report also includes the proposal of the Col·legi de l'Advocacia of Barcelona on the theft of mobile phones, for which it requests that it be regulated autonomously in the Penal Code. The author understands that the terminal cannot be valued as a mere object because it is much more, it is a store of sensitive and essential data in your daily life. The author also requests an increase in the penalties for the crime of receiving, which now carries a prison sentence of six months to two years. A fork that makes it impossible to carry out international investigations when it is known that many of the objects that are stolen on the streets of Barcelona end up in other cities after passing through a receiver.
The author recognizes the efforts of the administrations in recent years to increase police staff. And he insists on improving, because there is room, the coordination channels between the political leaders at the head of the police organizations. Some political leaders from whom he asks for “agility” in the dissemination of crime statistics. The lawyer understands that prevention actions require specific knowledge of what is happening from that photo, which can be developed through complaints.
Zegrí considers that justice has remained unchanged and has become obsolete, and that it is governed today by the same organizational criteria as two centuries ago. Hence, its reform is more than obligatory. “The administration of justice is a service company and should be considered as such, with criteria of effectiveness,” he warns.
Those responsible for the report intend to generate debate and expose the situation to the different political groups with the desire to achieve that new legal impulse necessary, in their opinion, to avoid resigning and falling into immobility.
