Every day, in the city of Barcelona, the Mossos d'Esquadra and the Urban Police detain an average of one hundred people, with some peaks of up to 130 arrested in one day. Frantic police activity that has highlighted, once again, the need to find an alternative to the custody area for detainees in Les Corts, the cells in the basement of the police station.
In his day, Major Josep Lluís Trapero left in writing the need to change the concept of the custody area and think of a new building, also centralized, but which would completely change the custody conditions of these detainees, which has not changed in the past. last century. His ambitious project was suspended after being fired.
In recent months, it has been the commissioner responsible for Barcelona, Marta Fernández, who has tried to find a solution to a real problem. Because it is no longer just about the overcrowding of the dependencies, it is that the current fleet of mossos, with the transfer vans almost always broken down, forces every morning to assemble a caravan of patrol cars to transfer detainees to the Ciutat de la Justice, in l'Hospitalet.
Some mornings, the different police stations in the city have dispensed with up to 16 patrol cars that have stopped doing citizen security to transfer detainees, according to sources familiar with the problem have confirmed to La Vanguardia. Not to mention the daily transfers that many of these detainees request to go to the doctor.
Given the lack of this space and the impossibility of reaching an agreement with those responsible for the Ciutat de la Justícia to use precisely its cells, Commissioner Fernández and her team have worked on a decentralization plan for Les Corts, which has the approval of the headquarters.
The first part of the plan has been launched this month. Since the beginning of June, the cells of the Horta-Guinardó police station have been in operation. With a capacity for between 20 and 25 detainees, it is already receiving arrestees, which helps to decongest Les Corts.
In parallel, two weeks ago work began to condition the cells of the Ciutat Vella police station. Bearing in mind that the police in this district, both mossos and urban guards, arrest a very high percentage of suspected criminals, only the savings in patrol cars to transfer the detainees to Les Corts will be notable. In addition, it will also help to decongest the cells of the detention center.
The plan is much more ambitious and contemplates a total decentralization and also has the involvement of the Urban Guard of Barcelona to participate in the custody of detainees.
It is about each police station taking care of its district arrestees in their cells and that the police officers of each police station are also in charge of writing the reports.
Right now, the Mossos d'Esquadra have a unit that is in charge of these reports, a unit to which urban guards have been incorporated, and which, for the moment, there are no plans to decentralize, although the advance would be for each police station to have of police officers with the capacity to fill out those documents that accompany the detainee before the judge.
It is not an easy task because, as indicated by various sources consulted, the writing of these certificates requires specific knowledge that in the end is acquired through daily practice.
It is true that the custody area complies with legal requirements and also has the ISO certification that corresponds to its procedures. But the working conditions are harsh, the police have always denounced. Not to mention the situation of the cells, scarce, and without natural light and poor ventilation, which is complicated when in days like those of recent months the number of detainees exceeds one hundred.
