Guardia Civil ask for reassurance about regional police force

THE secretary general of the Guardia Civil union (AUGC), Joan Miquel Perpinya, has demanded an assurance from Jaume Matas, leader of the Balearic Government, that the Guardia Civil will not be replaced by the possible creation of a regional police force. This was one of the questions which they talked about during their meeting in the Consolat de Mar. Speaking after the meeting, Perpinya said that Matas had given him “reassurances” and told him that any project would be subject to full consultation with the unions of the Police Forces and the Guardia Civil. In addition to this, he said, the leader of the Balearic Government told him that the creation of a regional police force could not be done overnight.
In any case, Perpinya made it clear that the AUGC is not against the creation of a regional police force for the islands, although he hoped that it would not cause a “withdrawal” of the Guardia Civil, as has happened in Cataluña and the Basque region. With regard to this he said that it was necessary that any regional police force should not just support the local security forces, but also the national security forces. On the other hand, Perpinya said that, in his opinion, if the 1986 Law for State Security Forces is not modified to adapt it to the current situation, the only thing that the creation of a new regional force will do will be “to increase loss of control”, as there is already a lack of coordination among the different forces. During the meeting, Matas and Perpinya also talked about the Guardia Civil's buildings on the islands and the necessity to invest in improvements, although Matas did point out that this is the province of the Spanish Government's Delegation.