New start of term under a watchful police eye

A total of 273 officers will be on duty at points where concentrated movement of parents delivering pupils safely into the hands of their teachers is anticipated, an operation almost always involving heavy build-up of traffic. Earmarked for particular police attention are the city neighbourhoods of Son Gotleu, Son Rapinya, calle Aragon and the areas abutting the exit from Palma in the direction of Valldemossa.

Local authority Police deputy, Antoni Donaire, was speaking yesterday about the overall plans to keep a watchful eye on the “return to school.” He said that essentially, the strategy will be the same as in previous years and that differences in operational tactics will be “hard to spot”. He added, however, that the start of the new term always has the outward appearance of being chaotic, in spite of carefully laid plans by local authorities to conduct the event in an orderly manner.

The ground rules are for the police to direct traffic from the early hours of the school day to its close, at the entrances and exits of school and colleges; in the areas immediately surrounding key education centres and at points where police can see that traffic will build up causing bottle necks and jams.

In total, over the whole of today, the police will be on duty at 261 sites around the city, mostly during the course of the morning, with particular attention being paid to the districts of Levante, Poniente and Norte. Patrols will be graded so as to be commensurate with the density of traffic, danger spots, the width of the road and the number of lanes in each, the number of students pouring into the schools and colleges, the age of the children and their vulnerability on the way in to school, and whether or not traffic lights are located close to the entrances and exits of the education centres.

To make life as problem-free as possible on what will be a day of major activity, Donaire recommended that parents think in terms of their offspring using public transport as much as possible, and where it proves unfeasible, that lifts to school be co-ordinated with other parents so that cars are shared. It would also be helpful, said Donaire, if parents don't stop right outside the school entrance to drop off the pupils because if everyone did this at the same time, there is a danger of the flow of traffic grinding to a halt amidst a cacophony of angry horn blasts.

The police are also active in schools throughout the term time, keeping checks on absenteeism and offering talks on The Highway Code, domestic violence and drug trafficking.