Judge orders closure of Inca local police station

A Palma Appeals Court Judge yesterday instructed Inca council to close its Local Police station. Apart from the building apparently not having the necessary operating licences, a Palma judge ruled in favour of the family living next door to the station who lodged an official complaint over noise. What is more, the police force is apparently unable to acquire the necessary permits because the building's use does not comply with Inca's general building and planning laws. Tests carried out on the police station have shown that noise levels coming from the building are above the legally permitted level. And things got even worse when the Local Police force were ordered by a judge to pay compensation of 30 euros per day, back-dated to February, 2000 and continued until the station is closed. The ruling was met with disbelief in Inca. The town's mayor, Joan Rotger, admitted that he had expected the case to have been handled with “a bit more understanding on the part of the judge.” The mayor said that the local council has tried to resolve the issue on two previous occasions. Rotger said that the controversial police station is only a temporary affair. The local force is waiting for the Guardia Civil to vacate the municipal facilities at the General Luque barracks, which are to become the Local Police's new permanent headquarters. Rotger has no intention of letting the matter rest, he said that the council will appeal against the ruling and try to reach some form of satisfactory agreement with the court. The situation will do little to boost police morale in Inca. The force already maintains that is lacking sufficient manpower and resources, officers are having a hard time in resolving a spate of car robberies being carried out a night across the town. The main problem is they do not have enough policemen and women. In the same ruling yesterday, the judge also ordered that a bar which is close to the police station, located in the old GESA electricity company building, must also close because of complaints about noise from the Lorenzo family which took legal action against the police station.