Following the attempted attack on a police officer earlier this week, the head of the Palma force, Josep Palouzié, has ordered officers to exercise extreme caution. In a circular to all officers, he observes that the attack (on Tuesday night) is not the first time that members of the force have been attacked or threatened.
He says, however, that this particular incident represented a "qualitative leap" in terms of intimidation. All officers, he notes, can be targets of threats and assaults.
Palouzié prefaced his remarks by noting that different officers in the force are affected by the "case", which is of considerable seriousness and affects the prestige of the force. He was referring to the investigation into police corruption, and the incident on Tuesday night was specifically to do with this. Palouzié stated that the attack was designed as a way of influencing the investigation.
The officer in question is involved in investigating the corruption. He was driving home to Esporles when he was intercepted by a motorbike with two people, one of whom aimed a gun at him. The officer responded by firing two shots through the window and door of his car, which led to the potential attackers riding off.
It would appear that the people on the motorbike had been waiting for the officer. After being treated for shock, he gave a statement and said that he was aware of being followed by the bike. He let it pass, only to be confronted by the drawn weapon. National Police officers have analysed the scene of the incident and the officer's car, which had two bullet holes.
As Palouzié says, this is not the first time that there have been threats, and they have not only been directed at police. The anti-corruption prosecutor leading the investigation, Miguel Angel Subirán, has reported being confronted by two men in a van while he was walking down a street. Their faces were covered, and one of the two made a gesture of cutting his throat before the van sped off.
