ARCHIVED - Guardia Civil “overwhelmed” in Mazarrón as the local population swells to over 100,000

The central government responds with an announcement that 5 extra officers are to reinforce the local force

A rapid-fire exchange of press releases on Wednesday highlighted the annual summer complaints of insufficient policing in Mazarrón, with the AUGC association of Guardia Civil officers reporting a lack of resources shortly before the central government delegate to Murcia responded with an announcement that the full complement in the area is to be met by the addition of 5 more officers.

According to the AUGC, the Guardia Civil in Mazarrón are “overwhelmed” by the increase in criminal activity in the area served by their local headquarters, and their press release called for the reorganization of responsibilities in the south-west of the Region of Murcia. While the crime rate increased by 6.3 per cent in the Region as a whole in the first half of this year the rise in the municipality of Mazarrón, in terms of matters corresponding to the Guardia, was an alarming 43.8 per cent, and the AUGC affirm that “all of those who live in the area” are aware of the lack of patrol cars and officers on the street and the excessive delay in reaching the scene of some crimes, which can be as far as 50 kilometres away from the nearest HQ.

Officers based in Puerto de Mazarrón serve not only the municipality of Mazarrón but also Isla Plana and La Azohía in Cartagena and Ramonete and Puntas de Calnegre in Lorca, extending the geographical area to over 400 square kilometres. For most of the year the population is around 36,000 but in summer that figure swells to well over 100,000, and AUGC maintain that a team of 36 officers, of whom only 15 patrol the streets, is simply insufficient. 80 officers would be needed to provide an effective service, they maintain, and go on to demand that at least another 30 be drafted in for the month of August.

However, these complaints came almost at the same time as a meeting between the central government delegate to the Region of Murcia, Francisco Jiménez, and representatives of Mazarrón Town Hall including Mayor Gaspar Miras and various policing bodies, including Guardia Civil coronel Jesús Arribas. The result of the meeting was an agreement that the Policía Local and the Guardia will coordinate their efforts to ensure that adequate vigilance is maintained in the municipality, and Sr Jiménez reported that the addition of 5 officers to the Mazarrón Guardia force will bring the total up to 50, equivalent to maximum capacity.

The central government delegate also highlighted the fact that these 5 officers are among 240 belonging to the Guardia and the national police who are being deployed to the coastline of the Region of Murcia this summer.

Clearly the numbers quoted by Sr Jiménez and the AUGC do not coincide, but the encouraging aspect is that all parties appear to agree on the need for more policing in Mazarrón. Last summer it was reported in the regional press that one of the reasons for the proliferation of unauthorized street vendors selling goods of dubious origin in the Puerto was the work-to-rule attitude adopted by the Policía Local, itself a consequence of a long-running between the local police force and the Town Hall concerning unpaid overtime.

After a similar meeting held between the Mayoress at the time, Alicia Jiménez, and government delegate Diego Conesa, both parties appeared to agree on the need for greater coordination between the Policía Local, the Guardia Civil and the Policía Nacional to clamp down on crime and petty offences in Mazarrón.

This year the street vendors are back in force along the Paseo Rihuete in Puerto de Mazarrón, and although there are police officers on patrol most of the “top manta” salesmen” simply fold up the rugs on which they place their wares when the officers approach and unfurl them again when they have passed. It is to be hoped that in the not-too-distant future sufficient resources are provided to put a stop to this illegal activity, and for there to be no repeat of the problem in years to come!

For more local news, events and other information go to the Mazarrón section of Murcia Today.

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