Two weeks ago the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, received in his office the commissioner of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Montserrat Estruch, the new head of the Catalan police in the capital. The presentation was made by the chief commissioner Eduard Sallent, who assured the mayor that he had bet on one of his best teams to face the new stage, in which he was already ahead of the arrival at the end of 'August 222 policemen just out of school.
The police reinforcement comes at a crucial time. Statistics show an incessant increase in criminal activity. In general terms, crimes have risen by almost 14% compared to the first half of last year. And although the political leaders insist on continuing to compare the figures with 2019 and emphasize that those figures have not been reached, the truth is that both the municipal scale and the victimization survey show that the people of Barcelona continue to point out insecurity as the main problem.
Estruch and the Chief Intendant of the Urban Guard, Pedro Velázquez, yesterday headed the police representation of the Barcelona Security Board with the presence of the Prosecutor's Office, the judiciary, the National Police and the Civil Guard.
The review of the figures for 2023 again places theft as the city's star crime. In fact, they represent 49.2% of all reported crimes. They have gone from 42,772 to 50,116; 275 thefts are reported to the city every day. Every five minutes there is a theft in Barcelona, and a very high percentage are perpetrated in Ciutat Vella and the Eixample. Wallets, phones, handbags and even computers are the most stolen items.
Judges and prosecutors explained that it is still too early to see the consequences of the entry into force of the latest reform of the Penal Code in matters of recidivism. And this reform was appealed to by the Deputy Mayor of Security, Albert Batlle, to raise the flag that more legislative reforms are needed to provide judges with "more effective" instruments against certain crimes, such as, for example, those who are related to marijuana, which had its own agenda item during the meeting.
The Security Board, chaired by Collboni, with the presence of the Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, among others, made it clear that without institutional loyalty and operational coordination on the street of all uniformed officers, it is impossible to work taking into account the complexity of Barcelona's reality.
Commissioner Estruch assured, as police director Pere Ferrer did later in a press conference, that Interior is committed to the security of the city and hence the creation of new divisions and the reinforcement of areas such as that of research, which will help improve safety and prevention.
The appointment served to specify the decentralization plan for detainees that La Vanguardia had already advanced, with the dungeons of the Ciutat Vella police station starting to operate on September 1.
In terms of crimes, practically all of them are increasing, but there is a particular increase in thefts, scams, and, shyly, robberies with violence, even though it is one of the crimes that generates the most anxiety. Of course, the note after the meeting warns that of the approximately 6,739 victims who suffered a violent robbery in the first half of the year, only 2% suffered an injury; the rest, or nothing, or a very mild one.
During the first six months of 2023, 315 repeat offenders were detected, of which 269 were arrested 1,629 times and charged with 4,065 crimes. In this group there are the five who are considered more active: they have been arrested 112 times and accumulate 203 records. All five are at large.
Last week, those responsible for the General Criminal Investigation Office gave the figures related to sexual violence in Catalonia, which have also increased. The city of Barcelona is no exception. They rose by 27.4 percent in the last semester, which translates into 525 complaints of sexual assault in six months. Of course, both Estruch and Velázquez assured that the so-called safe itineraries work, and in these monitored and illuminated corridors, complaints have dropped.
Those responsible for the Urban Guard, specifically the Security Manager, Maite Casado, presented the results of the new office for complaints of gender violence opened in the premises of the Urban Guard in Nou Barris, and also the imminent opening of another one of the same at the Rambla police station, in Ciutat Vella. Two spaces designed with the sole criterion of providing well-being and confidence to victims who dare to take the step of crossing the threshold of a police station to report the hell they are suffering.
