The Canarian Police begins territorial deployment across the islands 14 years later

The goal of exceeding 300 troops to be able to negotiate with the Interior will be reached in 2024 with the last public job offer, whose tests were called in November. Also in the last government council The new selection and promotion regulations of the Canarian Police were approved, which aims to streamline the selection processes to accelerate the incorporation of new officers and simplify the calls with their own regime outside the general regulations to access the Autonomous administration. The objective in the coming years is to call for annual job offers with faster calendars – currently the processes between the offer and the tests are extended by up to three years – to shorten the deadlines.

The objective is none other than to have more staff to implement the deployment to other islands in the medium term. In fact, the Executive has also approved providing the force with an availability salary supplement to encourage agents to move to non-capital islands voluntarily.

The creation of the Canarian Police (Law 2/2008, of May 28), was formalized with the intention of incorporating 1,700 agents in several phases. However, it is noted that, almost 14 years after its implementation, it is about to reach 300 police officers, with the deployment provided for by law and the Statute of Autonomy. Currently its members are divided between the only two existing police stations, that of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and of The Palms of Gran Canaria. For their interventions they must travel from those points to the other islands, traveling back and forth to cover certain events and demands at the request of the town councils.

The islands that are a priori favorites to begin this decentralization of the regional police are La Gomera and Lanzarote. However, the demands of these islands to demand the presence of the Canarian Police are based on totally different realities. On the Colombian island there is a chronic lack of local police and there are few personnel to cover mass events or security matters. The Gomera authorities have been requesting with some regularity the presence of regional police and, for some time now, that there be a permanent base on the island of the Canarian Police. On the other hand, Lanzarote has security problems derived from tourism, population growth or a significant increase in irregular migration. The current authorities of the island – the Cabildo presides again Canarian Coalition– They warn that there is a lack of members of the State security forces and bodies, which is why they demand permanent agents of the autonomous body.

But territorial deployment is not just a matter of increasing staff. A significant increase in resources is also required for infrastructure, new police stations adapted to the needs of the force, material resources, vehicles and equipment, weapons, etc. The General Directorate of Security is already looking for public properties, although negotiations are also being held with councils and town councils for the possible transfer of facilities and premises. The unions warn of the need for there to be a security plan before territorial deployment in order to know the security needs of each island, as do the State forces. But the union centers also warn against launching the initiative with the risk that the capital islands will be left with few personnel while, at the same time, the current police stations of Gran Canaria and Tenerife They are located in the two capitals but the force would also need to have facilities at least in the tourist areas.

The difficulties that the autonomous body has gone through since its deployment began in 2010 have been numerous. The economic crisis and the severe cuts in the regional budget curtailed the possibility of its growth from the very beginning and the body oscillated between a hundred agents for several years with successive internal crises, since many of the agents coming from other security forces security were leaving again. The call Brick case It was an internal turning point that affected the public image of the body, while subsequently several public employment offers were marred by irregularities and complaints. It was the previous Government of pact of flowers which began to increase the workforce decisively with calls for new positions with the intention of negotiating with the State the financing of the new personnel, although the problems inherent to the pandemic of Covid They stopped the development of the tests and contacts with the Interior to obtain funds were put on hold.