The Contentious-Administrative Court no. 2 of Las Palmas has issued a judgment fully upholding the appeal filed by the Professional Union of Local Police and Firefighters (SPPLB) in the Canary Islands, and has condemned the Teguise City Council for not having provided the mandatory training and qualification in the use of firearms and other defensive technical means to the members of its Local Police.
The judicial resolution declares proven that the City Council failed to comply with the provisions of article 16 of Decree 20/2020, of March 5, which obliges local administrations to guarantee continuous and specialized training of police personnel, especially in the handling of the means assigned to them in the exercise of their functions.
In addition, the City Council has been ordered to pay the legal costs, so the amount derived from this judicial sentence must be assumed with public funds, that is, with resources contributed by all the residents of Teguise.
The SPPLB considers that this sentence constitutes "a firm judicial support for the right of agents to receive regulated and updated training, as well as a wake-up call to administrations that neglect this legal obligation."
Likewise, the union recalls that the need to provide security forces with adequate and permanent training has become especially clear in recent events, such as the one that occurred a few days ago at the Gran Canaria airport, where an immigrant armed with a knife was shot down by the Police after trying to rob a taxi driver, putting citizen security at serious risk. Events like this underline the critical importance of agents having not only adequate means, but also technical training to act with proportionality, effectiveness and within legal limits.
It should be noted that the sentence is not final and can be appealed to the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands.
The SPPLB "reiterates its commitment to defending the rights of police officers, as well as promoting professional, trained and respectful public safety within the regulatory framework."
