Santa Cruz de Tenerife will activate the security device of the Local Police on the 15th on the occasion of the Christmas season, thus delaying the reinforcement of local agents on the streets of the city due to the agglomeration of people who gather on these dates in the main commercial areas.
This decision, communicated last week by the acting commissioner, Juan Francisco Márquez, in the command meetings has generated criticism from the police unions, who expressed their surprise at the fact that “if in all the cities in which “It foresees a large concentration of people, the police security plans have already been activated, why is the Santa Cruz City Council waiting?”
In this sense, the CSIF spokesperson, Jesús Illada, explained that “some problems already occurred during Black Friday and now also with the recent holiday weekend, since by not closing the shopping centers during those days the crowds of people were considerable.” . A situation to which is added the lack of local agents to be able to provide better service.
Now, Illada said, “closer to Christmas, the situation worsens, since there are not enough police forces, plus the delay in activating the reinforcement device, traffic jams will begin to arise at the entrance to the capital and traffic problems and of security due to the lack of personnel at the Police Station,” he stressed.
In this regard, he clarified that “delaying the reinforcement of police officers in commercial areas is not justified, especially since this week is very important because it is prior to Christmas Eve. Added to this is that there are many colleagues on leave at this time, which is producing a situation of chaos among the police, because there are fewer personnel and more people on the streets of Santa Cruz.”
The unions described it as “unfeasible” to maintain a good service in this situation, because “if a complete unit is 40 police officers, with the current permits and some casualties the staff is reduced to 25 or 30 per shift, and on weekends much less. “, they explained.
The Christmas security reinforcement consists of 14 more police officers on the morning shift and 14 on the afternoon shift, but according to the union organizations, “they are insufficient” for these specific dates.
