The deputy commissioner of the Local Police of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Blas Hernández, has called the agents who refused to work in the International Marathon that was held in the capital on November 14 “lazy guys”. Hernández referred to his colleagues in this way in a message sent to one of his WhatsApp groups that has been leaked to the press. Police sources have explained to this newsroom that the working conditions in which the agents work in the municipality led some police officers to oppose providing services on a Sunday because it is their day off.
These same sources point out that, although the number of Local Police agents required for this sporting event amounts to 100, 60 worked that day. Among them, 30 agents who usually work in offices and are referred to as “folders” in the text.
“Let’s see, hot cloths… the just ones, today, today I felt PROUD of the Police, today I felt PROUD of 30….. 30… 30 folders, 30 folders, FOLDERS, who were here today because the Police of SANTA CRUZ simply, is something else, because tomorrow they will charge 50 euros less than some slackers… slackers, simply: slackers and I know, I KNOW that you are, simply and I say it again THEY ARE and hell, they are not, They are not there”, begins the WhatsApp message from the deputy commissioner. Sources that have had access to this chat say that Hernández deleted the message after sending it.
This newspaper has tried to contact Blas Hernández, who has referred it to the press office of the Local Police. From the body they have refused to make statements about the security device of the Marathon. Likewise, sources from the City Council point out that the message in which the deputy commissioner calls other agents “lazy” is framed in a private context.
In July 2020, the deputy commissioner was denounced by the socialist councilor Florentino Guzmán before the Human Resources department of the City Council for “having violated his ethical duties of conduct as a public employee” incurring in “disciplinary responsibility for the commission of serious infractions” typified in the Law of Coordination of Local Police of the Canary Islands .
Guzmán filed the complaint for a series of comments made on social networks by the deputy commissioner to statements or publications by the councilor. According to the complainant, these comments were made “in his capacity as a member of the Local Police, as Deputy Commissioner, and they take place in the context of a professional relationship.”
Today these comments continue. The most recent was in relation to this Marathon. ”I was thinking of making fun, but this is too serious. Tomorrow the Tenerife Marathon should be held
and, at this time, there are not enough police officers to guarantee the security of the event. Hence today’s withholdings, and the uncertainty of what they will do tomorrow,” the councilor posted on his Twitter account. To this, the deputy commissioner replied: “Tino, you expected the Marathon NOT TO START…. IT STARTED AND WITH A NOTE, IT STARTED WITH A NOTE. SANTA CRUZ WON, NOT THE POLITICIANS nor the unionists, AN ENTIRE Town CAME OUT and WON, SANTA CRUZ WON, WON the Marathon. To those who don’t love this city: GARLIC and WATER!”. “And I swear, I swear… I swear, open me or ask me to open a file for me tomorrow: TODAY I CRIED with the good DOING of my colleagues from the LOCAL POLICE and with the people who went out to do THEIR MARATHON, The one that you break us. The politicians”. added Hernández in this social network.
And I swear, I swear… I swear, open me or ask me to open a file tomorrow: TODAY I CRIED with the good DOING of my colleagues from the LOCAL POLICE and with the people who went out to do THEIR MARATHON, La that you break us The politicians.
— B.Hdez. S. (@bhersua) November 13, 2022
In 2016, Sí Se Puede and Izquierda Unida asked the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, to dismiss the deputy commissioner for “alerting” the rest of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Local Police officers of the “risk” that Podemos would win the elections. “We defend that in a democratic institution like this, a superior who addresses a large number of local police officers under his command cannot be kept in office, urging them not to support a certain political formation,” criticized a councilor at the time. If possible.
Mandatory reinforcement
The leadership of the Local Police of Santa Cruz de Tenerife issued an order of “mandatory reinforcement” due to the lack of sufficient agents to work in the Marathon. “After the period given for the presentation of parts of volunteers to perform extraordinary services, they have not been enough to cover an event of such magnitude, which directly affects Road and Citizen Safety,” reads the document.
Thus, the agents who had a justified cause for not attending the conference had a deadline of November 1 to provide proof of the alleged reasons. A document dating from November 8 and to which this newspaper has had access warns the police officers who did not present any supporting document and who had not volunteered to work that, if they did not report to the established service, they could incur “disciplinary responsibilities ”.
On November 14, the Santa Cruz City Council issued a statement to “thank” the Security and Mobility and Sports areas for organizing and running the VIII Santa Cruz Marathon. According to the data in the statement, the meeting was attended by 4,000 athletes. The Governing Board thanked “with each of their names” the agents of the Local Police of Santa Cruz and also other bodies that participated, such as the National Police, the Canary Islands Police, the Civil Guard and the Port Police.
“Unfavorable” working conditions
Police sources have defended this newsroom for the reasons why some refused to work in the Marathon. These sources refer to the Psychosocial Risk Assessment report of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Local Police published in May 2022. The study concludes that the dimensions of work that are in a “very unfavorable” situation are workload, time of work, the psychological demands of the services and the participation of the agents.
“The results obtained for Working Time show an unfavorable situation. The causes of these results are working in shifts with Saturdays, Sundays and difficulty in combining free time with social relationships”, details the report consulted by this newsroom.
On the other hand, the report warns that workers’ compensation and interest are in an unfavorable situation; relationships and social support, as well as autonomy can be improved. The variety and content of tasks are the only variables in an “adequate situation,” according to the assessment.
