The Unified Police Union (SUP) has issued a press release complaining about the attitude of the Mayor towards the Policía Nacional in Motril.
The union Spokesperson considers that the Mayor shows an attitude of distain towards the police staff by ignoring them and even deceiving them.
As an example, the Spokesperson cites an incident that occurred on the 11th of March 2014, during a commemoration service for the victims of terrorism. The union representative made a verbal request for the bollards outside the police station to be removed so that the number of parking spaces for official cars and handicapped drivers could be increased.
There were several official witnesses and the Mayor said that this would be done the following Monday.
The lack of parking spaces came to light during an emergency fire drill when there was not enough room for the fire engines to manoeuvre because of these bollards.
The said bollards are there because of the danger of passersby being injured by falling pieces of masonry owing to the deteriorated state of the building. Bear in mind that the building is practically new and cost half a million euros to build.
As nothing happened on the promised Monday and time was passing without any signs of action from the Mayor’s Office, three written requests have been submitted for an appointment with the Mayor but no response was made.
The police union has approached other members of the Town Council and have only received such put offs as “she’s on a trip,” or “she’s not attending this meeting today.”
On the 1st of April they finally received a call from the Council Spokesman, Nicolás Navarro Díaz, to say that the request for the removal of the bollards had been rejected.
The police union finds it unacceptable that the Mayor, besides refusing to meet them face to face, has been reorganizing parking around the town “in benefit” of the staff at the Town Hall, in detriment of private vehicle owners and in some cases, eliminating handicapped parking spaces, all under the guise of “no parking accept for official vehicles.”
These parking modifications have been made with the consent of the Chief of Local Police, which is a political appointment; i.e., owes his position to the ruling party.
The Town Hall Responds
The Spokesman for the Town Council, Nicolás Navarro, laments the “unfortunate,” police-union, press release and claims that what the police union is really requesting is private parking for police officers and staff that work at the police station.
He says that for “this reason” the request cannot be accepted as it would “undervalue” the needs of other public office staff in the area, which have made similar requests; i.e., the Tax Office, Social Affairs Offices and the secondary school, IES Giner de los Ríos.
He finished by saying that these sort of declaration can “muddy” the good relations between the police forces and the Town Hall, which, he says is always open to dialogue to solve problems.
However, the Sr. Navarro made no mention of the accusations made by the police union that this newly built building was botched by the Town Council, thanks to a lack of supervision during the construction stage.
(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)