The Human Resources Area of the Santa Cruz City Council and the Local Police unions have reached an agreement to recover the Unipol, an intervention unit that disappeared in 2021 after 17 years of service and is now resumed with the aim of reinforcing the police presence in the neighborhoods. Unlike the previous format, the agents that are part of this unit will do so based on merit and ability, in addition to the fact that participation will be voluntary. Yesterday the agreement was signed that will allow 30 agents, divided into three daily shifts, with their respective breaks, to form part of Unipol, which returns to support the rest of the operational groups.
The mayor of the municipality, José Manuel Bermúdez, yesterday expressed his satisfaction with this agreement. “It is a great step to continue improving the effectiveness of our Local Police and a sign of good will on both sides to reach agreements that involve both an improvement in the benefits of the body and the working conditions of the workers, attending to their needs and opinions,” he said. From Human Resources, Purificación Dávila appreciated the predisposition of the unions to reach an agreement, and advanced that “in a few months Unipol will return to the streets.”
The Councilor for Security, Evelyn Alonso, also congratulated herself for responding to the “neighborhood request” for Unipol to return to the streets, with which the next step will be to start the process to provide the places.
The functions that this Unipol will have will be those of neighborhood police, attending to the demands of citizen security, related to the retailing of drugs, neighborhood mediation, or security devices. They will also carry out preventive activities in schools, collaborate with the rest of the operational groups or with other State Security Forces and Bodies. Likewise, they will collaborate with the group of Canine Guides, with the protection of victims of gender violence, with the Office of the Juvenile Prosecutor, or with the maintenance and good use of beach areas or maintenance of municipal heritage.
Union sources assure that, although it is called Unipol, it does not retain the characteristics of the original unit, starting with the fact that it will no longer act as an intervention unit, but as one more operational group.
