Almost 4´000 “Summer Police” in tourist areas

PALMA
THE Ministry for the Interior has started “Operation Summer 2007”, which will reinforce security in the main Spanish tourist areas, including the Balearic islands.

This operation, which takes place every summer, will have 3'910 officers from the State Security Forces taking part.
According to Ministry sources, the Secretary of State for Security, Antonio Comacho, gave instructions to the Director General of the Police and the Government's Representatives to put this operation into practice from July 1. “Operation Summer” takes place each summer in the autonomous regions of the Balearics, Andalucia, Asturias, the Canaries, Cantabria, Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia, Madrid and Murcia, and in the autonomous towns of Ceuta and Melilla. The operation will finish on September 30.

The objectives of the operation, which involves 2'161 officers from the National Police Force and 1'749 officers from the Guardia Civil, are to increase citizen security in the tourist areas to avoid an increase in the level of crime and to deal with victims of crime faster and more effectively.

With a view to this the police will be reinforced in hotel areas, in the streets and other places where there are a great many tourists.
The instruction, which was signed by the Secretary of State for Security on June 21, puts into operation a series of measures, amongst which are: reinforcing the policing in areas where there is a high concentration of tourists; the widening of collaboration with the tourism sector; starting measures to make it easier to identify foreigners who have had their documentation stolen; and special anti terrorism forces.

The officers frequently patrol in plain clothes, so that they can mingle with the crowds.
Once the operation is over, the Secretary of State for Security will analyse the results. To do this he will use the reports and reviews made out by the different Government Representatives and by the National Police Force and the Guardia Civil.

The tourist police all have a knowledge of at least one foreign language, so that they can help tourists more efficiently.