The Local Police of Arrecife presented this Tuesday a 24-hour service, every day of Spain, which is a pioneer in Spain, and has the objective of preventing the occupation of homes.
The mayor of Arrecife, Yonathan de León, has presented, together with the deputy chief commissioner of the Local Police of Arrecife, José Antonio Lasso Tabares, this new service where citizens can alert through a direct line to indications that confirm the occupation of a property. Immediately, the agents of the Local Police go to the place to proceed to prevent that occupation. The mayor of the capital of Lanzarote, and direct owner of the Local Police, Yonathan de León, has stressed that citizen collaboration is essential to stop the occupations of properties by alerting within the first 24 hours, when there are indications of a possible occupation.
The mayor detailed in the presentation today to the media that "the Government of Pedro Sánchez has legislated so that the squatters perpetuate themselves in those properties, and have left the legitimate owners of the house helpless. There is no place in the European Union where private property is not protected against these violent occupations, where windows or doors are forced to access a property and be occupied."
"With the current law - emphasized the mayor - "only the Police can act in the first 24 hours. That is why we have provided our Local Police with resources such as camouflaged cars, advanced communication systems, drones, and personnel so that Arrecife is a safe and protected city."
An anti-squatting deployment
The Local Police of Arrecife has stood out in recent months for the deployments to prevent occupations of single-family homes, and even buildings. In some cases, the squatters have abandoned these properties through the mediation of local agents, or in other cases, applying the legal provision that allows them to act within the 24-hour period.
For this, from this week, the Local Police of Arrecife has activated an exclusive telephone line for calls related to occupations that is attended by the Local Police 24 hours a day and every day of the year. Citizens must call the telephone number 682 27 14 66 to alert any indication or suspicion where they communicate that a property is being occupied.
The deputy chief commissioner of the Local Police of Arrecife, José Antonio Lasso Tabares, said to questions from the media, that "the Local Police can intervene in the first 24 hours as it is a flagrant crime." With this line, the capacity of the Local Police will be more immediate.
The legislation, which protects the actions of the Police, establishes that a "flagrant crime" refers to a crime that is being committed or has just been committed, when the author is caught in the act. It can also be considered flagrant if the author is arrested immediately afterwards, with clear indications of having committed it.
The deputy chief commissioner of the Local Police of Arrecife stressed today that, after the occupation, and if it persists for days or months, "these properties can be the cause of neighborhood conflicts, because their occupants, in known cases, have dedicated it to illicit activities."
In the presentation, the chief of the Local Police congratulated the mayor for this initiative, and for providing resources to the Local Police Corps, making it a good reference of service to the citizens among all the Local Police corps in the Canary Islands. The journalists and graphic artists who attended this presentation verified this system in real time, accessing the control room at the headquarters of the Local Police.
