Summers lately are a time of conflict between municipal police forces and their town halls, and this summer is certainly no exception.

The members of the Policía Local de Motril were out protesting yesterday in front of the Town Hall, demanding more personnel and equipment, with the backing of the relevant police unions.

At 11.00h, as scheduled, 140 people gathered in front of the Town Hall building on the Plaza de España whilst inside they were holding a Plenary Meeting of the Town Council.

The staff of the municipal police force have been simmering for several months over the lack of boots on the ground, which puts the general public in danger, they consider, for both visitors and residents.

In fact, the Spokesman for the Union, Daniel Orgega, regrets that the summer fair will not be secure/safe and urges the Councillor for Citizen Safety, Mara Escámez and the Mayor, Luisa García Chamorro, to find a solution to the problem.

The said fiestas will be held between the 9th and the 16th and at the moment they will only have a normal patrols with no extra policing available. Under normal circumstance, each shift has two patrol rounds but during the fair, extra policing provides 14 officers. Eight officers are needed to direct traffic at the entrance to the fairground whilst the other six officers patrol the fair. It is this extra policing that won’t be in place this August.

“This year, it’s best to go to the fairground on foot,” explained the police-union Spokesman, pointing out that Protección Civil are not authorised to direct traffic or make arrests, obviously.

In the meantime, the police union will meet with the said councillor in order to negotiate.

One of the beefs is over pay because the police union says that Motril municipal-officers earn 500 euros less than other towns. At present the police force has 87 officers, 45 of whom are on administrative duties and 24 are on holiday. Another 15 are in the second-line of duty because of their age. The average age of police officers in Motril is 50. Only 30 officers actually do patrol work, split into shifts.

Lastly, the Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias says that ideally Motril should have 115 officers plus another 10% for outlaying municipal dependencies.

Editorial comment: a new recruit in the Políca Local earns more money than a corporal in the Guardia Civil with several years’ experience. If anybody deserves to be paid more, it is the Guardia Civil, who do a much better job, if the truth be known.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)