In the last week, members of the local police revived their claims for more agents and better terms and conditions. They consider that their salaries are much lower than those enjoyed by local police officers in many other municipalities.
Last Friday the plenary hall was filled with officers and their and relatives who were protesting about their situation, however, the session was suspended due to the tragic death of two bathers.
The agents stopped carrying out extra duties in January, which they are not contracted to provide, a situation that will continue until the City Council resolves their conditions. Indeed, during one of last Saturday’s shifts – from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. – the main headquarters had to be closed to the public because of a lack of personnel.
There were just two officers on duty, one to respond to calls from the Emergency Coordination Centre and another officer with a vehicle patrolling the municipality to cover all other services.
Guardamar Local Police is supported by the Civil Guard, which also serves half of the municipality of Rojales and the entire municipality of San Fulgencio, however the service is now at breaking point, serving what corresponds to a municipality of 23,000 people.
The mayor, José Luis Sáez (PSOE), said that the staff are adopting measures that harm the general public and themselves. He explained that negotiations must be addressed in a comprehensive way and not exclusively for just one group of Council officials, which is what they are demanding.
The mayor has said that at the moment there are only three vacancies in a total of 42 places available to the staff, and they will be filled with interims, “in the coming days.”
The agents themselves say that this is a very insufficient number adding that there are many agents in a second activity who are not patrolling and unless matters improve very soon, the situation during the high season could become serious.
