The Mossos have intensified police pressure given the high number of home robberies in the Girona region, which has now reached 677 in the last three months. Some crimes that have increased by 4.1% compared to the data for 2022. The commissioner and head of the Police Region, Josep Milan, assures that the body sees this upward trend “with concern” and that, for this reason, , the specific plan focused on combating these robberies has been raised one more level.
During the celebration of Dia de les Squadres, Milan also underlined the effort made by the body in view of the 27% increase in fraud, which is committed up to 24 times a day. In addition, they have lamented "the vocabulary of horror" that surrounds sexual assaults.
Home burglaries, the scourge of sexual violence or fraud have focused part of the commissioner's speech during the celebration of Día de les Esquadres. The head of the Police Region has admitted that the first group of crimes is "one of those that cause the most insecurity among citizens." Precisely because thieves "invade your most intimate space."
During the past year, in the entire demarcation, home robberies grew by 1.4%. But, as of the autumn, this percentage has increased. In fact, in the last three months alone, home robberies in the Girona regions have increased by 4% compared to the same period in 2022. This situation means that, on average, every day thieves enter 8 houses or floors.
"We view this upward trend with concern," Milan said. For this reason, the Mossos d'Esquadra have raised the Specific Operational Plan (POE) focused on combating these types of crimes. In practice, the commissioner specified, this means alerting the different patrols so that they are willing to analyze day by day what robberies are committed and where, and intensify controls on the roads. In this case, they have also activated the Àrea Regional de Recursos Operatius (ARRO).
In addition, Josep Milan also explains that the investigation is focused on seeing what modus operandi the thieves use. "All this information is transferred to those who carry out the controls because, sometimes, despite the fact that when they search a vehicle they do not find the loot, they do locate tools or false codes that the thieves use," the head of the Police Region specifies. .
In the last of these robberies, above all, two types of criminals are hiding: multiple repeat offenders who, as the commissioner explains, "seize the moment"; and itinerants, who act in a planned manner and who "in a single night, before disappearing, commit several robberies." They have high mobility and, in parallel, they enter houses and, some, also grow marijuana.
Josep Milan specifies that, above all, the efforts of the Mossos are focused on dismantling these groups, because when the leader of one of these criminal groups is caught, robberies are substantially reduced. "It is true that until now we have increased the arrests for these robberies, but we have not yet been able to dismantle any of them," explains the head of the Police Department.
Apart from home robberies, among the crimes of concern, Milan has also made reference to sexist violence. "I wish I didn't have to talk about it, because it would mean that we would have eradicated them, but unfortunately that's not the case," explains the commissioner. During 2022, throughout the demarcation, gender violence grew by 12%, domestic violence by 13% and there were three femicides.
In parallel, reports of sexual assaults also increased by 12%. "A vocabulary of horror has appeared with words like 'La Manada', chemical submission and the pricking of women in nightlife areas," laments Josep Milan. In addition, he stresses that the Mossos are making a "common front" with the businessmen of venues and nightclubs to "prevent and help victims who feel threatened and attacked."
Throughout his speech, the head of the Police Region has also given data on other criminal types. He has highlighted that scams are increasing by 27%, in an "upward trend" that is repeated year after year. Now, on average, 24 scams are committed per day in the Girondin regions. “These are difficult crimes to investigate, with low resolution and arrest levels, but we will make the necessary efforts to specialize and equip ourselves with tools to reduce this negative trend and combat new cybercrime scenarios,” he said.
Josep Milan have also made a subsection in the efforts that the police are making with the 'Pla Daga' focused on preventing and attacking crimes that are committed with bladed weapons. During the past year, throughout the territory, the Mossos seized 600 knives and blades. They are 6% more compared to 2021 and, on average, two interventions each day.
Finally, the head of the Police Region has said that despite the fact that leisure and discrimination crimes have been reduced by 17.5%, "the attacks that are most reported are those that are committed against the LGTBI collective or for reasons of race and origin. Specifically, they represent almost 75% of the total. "These are very serious attacks of intolerance and contempt," the commissioner stressed, specifying that during the past year the mossos managed to solve three cases.
Commissioner Milan has been grateful that, in recent months, the Government has promoted "necessary changes" in the body, such as the incorporation of new agents or the decree of early retirement, which will allow the Mossos to "rejuvenate". Precisely, Milan's Dia de les Squadres speech this year was his last, since in September he retires after 43 years of service.
The thin of the Government, Laia Cañigueral, has thanked the work that the Mossos do, "a job that involves 24 hours, 365 days a year", and has recalled the "unprecedented impulse" that the Government has given to the body. Among others, with 2,500 new places between this year and last. Pushing forward early retirement, multiplying the Interior budget by three or, in the case of Girona, reversing the closure of the Trànsit sectors of Sant Feliu de Guíxols (Baix Empordà) and Olot. "We continue to consolidate the Mossos by land, sea and air," she underlines.
During the celebration of Dia de les Squadres in Girona, which has been held at the Auditori-Palau de Congressos, more than one hundred congratulations and medals have been awarded. Specifically, 99 congratulations and 10 medals.
In addition, among others, the work of the two Mossos d'Esquadra who saved a woman from drowning in Portbou (Alt Empordà) or that of a person from the Local Police of Torroella de Montgrí for their actions as a result of a fire in a nursing home in the municipality.
The act also had an emotional moment when the career of the commissioner and deputy chief of the Police Region, Xavier Creus, who is now retiring, was recognized. The entire Girona Auditorium has stood up to applaud him.
