The UGT representative in the Arrecife Local Police, Fran Godoy, wanted to clarify what happened in the police intervention in which a man was arrested after pulling a knife on an officer. According to him, the incident did not take place in a routine check as stated by the Councilor for Local Police, José Alfredo Mendoza, but was an action for a case of gender violence, in which the alleged aggressor "tried to cut the neck" of a police officer. Faced with these events, the union has raised the need to increase the staff of the police force.
According to the UGT representative in the Arrecife Local Police, the event occurred "two weeks ago", when at around 7:30 p.m. they were alerted by the Cecoes of a call for gender violence. "And the only couple that was on the street goes as quickly as possible to the place, because it is a call that is a matter of seconds that comes out in one way or another for the victim," he said.
"And what happened was that this person became quite aggressive and literally tried to cut the neck of one of the colleagues," said Fran Godoy, who said that even "there was a minor". "They tried to mediate, but that person was not very well and grabbed the colleague by the collar of his shirt and threw him towards him to directly slash his neck. He was not going to prick him, but to slash him," he added.
Support from the National Police and six agents to achieve his arrest
The UGT representative in the Arrecife Local Police explained that luckily "the colleague, who is well prepared, acted quickly and prevented him from cutting his neck." However, he pointed out that the agent who accompanied him "also had to avoid the attack" of the man.
In fact, he stated that "once they maintained a safe distance", the agents "took out the regulation weapon so that the man would not continue in that attitude and even so this person kept trying to stab".
Thus, according to Fran Godoy, it was not until the arrival of the support of the National Police, seeing that there were six police officers there, when this person desisted in his attitude. And even so, "he refused to be arrested and both the couple of colleagues from the Local Police and the support provided by the National Police had to intervene," he said.
After being arrested, it was the National Police who took charge of the proceedings and the placing at the disposal of the court of the detainee, a 28-year-old man, who was accused of a crime of gender violence and another of attack against an agent of the authority.
Regarding the Local Police officers who intervened, Fran Godoy pointed out that they "spent bad days" after the events. "Physically they are fine, but mentally, even if they are prepared for these things and it is your profession, you are left somewhat touched," he said.
Lack of personnel in the Local Police
"Two agents alone cannot go bare-chested to gender violence," said the UGT representative in the Arrecife Local Police, who denounced the "lack of personnel" in the police force.
"We are 72 police officers on staff and we should be 120. The colleagues are retiring and here we are fewer and fewer," criticized Fran Godoy, who also stated that they suffer "lack of material" and that they are "without vehicles practically because they are obsolete." "And so on and so forth," he added.
And it is that, in addition, the UGT representative in the Arrecife Local Police has stated that, due to the protocol that exists in the Cecoes, "in 90% of the cases" they arrive before the National Police. "Because normally the protocol that the Cecoes has, because the call enters through them, is that it calls the Local Police and the National Police, but the National Police enters through Las Palmas, not as before that the room was here. Before it entered the Arrecife police station and now it enters Las Palmas and Gran Canaria diverts here," explained Fran Godoy, who pointed out that for this reason "the response time is longer in the National Police."
The UGT representative in the Arrecife Local Police has also responded to what was stated by the councilor responsible for the police force, who stated that he had decided to review the Police's action protocol "to see why a person got so close to the agent with a knife." "Here there is no protocol, here you go and you have to act. There what you have to go with is the artillery, not two people, but at least four police officers and well equipped," he concluded.
