The Local Police of Arrecife celebrated the solemn institutional act on Saturday morning, presided over by the Mayor of the City, Yonathan de León, where the Local Police Day was celebrated. This year, the city of Arrecife has offered a floral tribute to all the deceased police officers, in an emotional act escorted by an Honor Guard made up of agents of the Arrecife Local Police Corps.
The offering, with the participation of the mayor and the deputy chief commissioner of the Local Police, was made under the official flags, in the exterior of the Local Police headquarters, before the formation of all the agents of the Corps and the attendance of numerous public, among whom were representatives of the Municipal Corporation, other police forces, civil and military authorities, and members of the Administration of Justice, the Lanzarote Bar Association, the Institute of Legal Medicine, and relatives of the police officers.
After the sounds of the hymns of the Canary Islands and Spain, the raising of the official flags of Arrecife, the Canary Islands and Spain, and the offering, surrounded by the staff of the local police in formation wearing their gala uniforms, the attendees moved to the plenary hall of the Arrecife City Council where the mayor, Yonathan de León, presided over the solemn act of awarding medals and recognitions to different police officers of the Local Police corps, and also of the National Police, as well as recognitions to police officers who are retiring, and to the representatives of the companies that have provided special collaborations with this corps throughout 2024.
Yonathan de León:
"We work so that the citizens feel proud of this Local Police, and today it stands out among the best corps in the Canary Islands"
Before a plenary hall full of attendees, the deputy chief commissioner of the Arrecife Local Police, José Antonio Lasso Tabares, spoke first, who requested that the increase in staff continue, in line with the new incorporations made in this 2024, to ensure that the city has a staff according to the resident population.
The deputy commissioner acknowledged during his speech the support of Mayor Yonathan de León so that the corps continues to modernize, both in equipment and in personnel, making the Arrecife Local Police one of the best corps in the Canary Islands. The deputy commissioner stressed that "many police officers want to come to be part of our police corps." Adding "There are few Police forces in the Canary Islands that have our resources, which are benchmarks in other places." The deputy chief commissioner announced that this 2024 will close with more than 20,000 assistance services to citizens.
Yonathan de León, highlighted at the beginning of his words "I wish to begin my speech by congratulating all the participants in the emotional act that we have celebrated a few moments ago, before accessing this plenary hall of the Arrecife City Council. An act that we should all feel proud of for what it represents: The unity and cooperation of the security forces, and the recognition, with high honors, of those who are no longer among us."
The mayor detailed that "in this day of celebration and fraternization, in which we honor the most veteran members of the corps, we say goodbye to those who are no longer with us, we congratulate police officers for their actions, and we award medals and diplomas for the outstanding merits achieved, takes place in the hall where the agreements of this city flow: The Plenary Hall."
The first mayor remarked that the eve of the Local Police Day was doubly important for the city of Arrecife, where the plenary adopted the unanimous agreement to recognize the trajectory and contribution of agents, professionals, companies and even a very valuable canine unit in the services it provides to the Community, where all the political forces present in the Municipal Corporation supported, with unanimity, these recognitions.
The agreement coincided with the celebration of the most historic date in the city of Arrecife. It was on December 27, 1798 when the municipality of Arrecife was created. That day, 226 years ago, the first mayor of Arrecife, Lorenzo Cabrera, was elected, and the designation of the first councilors elected by popular vote, the mayor specified in his speech.
Throughout this 2024 Arrecife has been commemorating the 225th anniversary of the founding of the municipality, a historic event that from now on is more united to those who were honored yesterday. "It is a pride for me as mayor that the designation of their recognitions is more united to the history of Arrecife," said the first mayor emotionally when naming all the agents by their first and last names.
Yonathan de León emphasized that "it is very important to highlight the work carried out by our Police and those who today recognize their dedication and support, setting as objectives those demands made by the citizens. There are many services and interventions in the area of prevention of gender violence, and protection of people in violent situations."
The mayor, and direct head of the Local Police, remarked that "currently the Local Police stands out in Lanzarote for its important actions dismantling smoking dens, mediating in the eviction of homes, helping to have safe school environments and strengthening collaboration with the educational community, the increase in human personnel, the improvement of its facilities and vehicles, and being a pioneering corps in having a modern shooting range and a virtual simulator, among the best in Spain - adding - that the commanders of the Local Police do everything possible to ensure that all this work is carried out in an effective and team-oriented manner."
Yonathan de León, as the direct head of the Police, is proud, as he detailed in the act, of the first fruits of the municipal management that, in the last year, has been working to ensure that the Local Police is very present in the neighborhoods, and that citizens feel close and vigilant to the agents, who patrol in undercover cars.
"We work so that the citizens feel proud of this Local Police, in the same way that our institutional effort aims to ensure that the women and men who make up this police corps feel proud to be part of it, since they are a fundamental part of this City Council and this city," the mayor remarked.
"I want to take advantage of these words to express on behalf of the city of Arrecife, my congratulations and gratitude to the people we distinguish for the outstanding actions carried out in the last year, which make us proud and exalt the image of our Police," concluding his speech, and subsequent delivery of medals, plaques, and recognition diplomas.
Names of the honored and recognized
Don Yovany Rosa Arteaga, Don José Miguel Gutiérrez Martín, and Don Juan José León Machín, respectively, "as founding members of the Minors and Family Unit (UMEF), for their outstanding work and dedication of those who have demonstrated an exemplary unwavering commitment in the field of training and protection of minors in the municipality of Arrecife. Their professionalism, deep knowledge and empathy towards the protection of the most vulnerable in our society are essential for the success of their continued dedication to this important cause. I am convinced that their work deserves to be publicly recognized for their valuable contribution to the well-being of children and adolescents," according to the statement of the plenary agreement.
-Doña Leonor Betancort Padrón and Doña María Begoña Parrilla Pérez, for their work that has been a testimony that equality and diversity enrich our work and strengthen the confidence of citizens.
-Police officers of the Local Police of Arrecife, Don Miguel Ángel Rodríguez García, Don Juan Manuel Clar Alli and Don Juan Alejo Rodríguez García, so that the congratulations received on November 15, 2024 from the lieutenant chief of the Main Post of the Civil Guard in Lanzarote Don José Airam Montelongo Quintero are recorded in their personal file
-Personal congratulations to Don Juan José de León Machín, agent of the Minors and Family Unit (UMEF). His dedication and commitment in the field of training and protection of minors has been exemplary and worthy of highlighting, contributing significantly to the implementation in this police corps of the Tutor Agent program.
-Collective congratulations to the Accident Unit of the Local Police of Arrecife. A unit with more than 20 years of operation and with an commendable trajectory, and whose members act with special dedication and in continuous training, which has made it possible for the Accident Unit of the Local Police of Arrecife to be a benchmark in the field of drafting reports and proceedings of all kinds, becoming an important value for the image of our Corps.
-Collective congratulations to the Administrative Unit of the Local Police of Arrecife. A unit as old as the Corps itself, whose actions do not usually appear in the press, but without which we could not function. They process the procedures arising from more than 50,000 services per year, as well as the internal procedures necessary for the correct development of our function.
-Collective congratulations to the Canine Group of the Local Police of Arrecife. A Group currently formed by five dogs, and their respective guides. Also with more than 20 years of service, our K9s have participated in countless services, especially in relation to narcotics, supporting our Agents, and in joint services with other Corps, in which the dog and its guide form an unbeatable tandem and with skills for the service unattainable for the sole skills of a human.
-Collective congratulations to the Minors and Family Unit (UMEF), since, although it is a recently created Unit, the work that its agents have developed and personal congratulations, also, to the Police officer Don Juan Alejo Rodríguez García.
From the Arrecife City Council, the police officers Don Juan Alejo Rodríguez García and Police Officer Don Nauzet Zebensui Angulo Pérez have been recognized. Their quick, decisive and accurate action managed to save the life of a worker who, through resuscitation maneuvers and the use of a semi-automatic defibrillator, after an extremely serious work accident, since, upon the arrival of the agents, he was in cardio-respiratory arrest.
-To the Police officer Don Gonzalo Daniel Cabrera Martín, for the development of a software for use by this staff, through which the agents access minutes, protocols, orders, procedures, legislation, etc., of great utility for the agents and that promotes the homogenization in the elaboration of documents related to the service
-Personal congratulations to the Police officer in a situation of second activity, Don Jonathan Rodríguez Llorca. For his outstanding work and dedication within the Administrative Unit, resulting from his service the implementation of material means that this Staff already has, highlighting the processing of the necessary files so that the new dependencies of the Local Police are already a reality.
- Personal congratulations to the officials Officer Don Julián Méndez Lorenzo, Officer Don Miguel Ángel Rodríguez García, Officer Don Marco Antonio Rosario Galindo, Police Officer Don Juan Antonio Vera Vera, Police Officer Don Pedro Antonio Barambio Hernández, Police Officer Don Francisco Javier Curbelo Rosa, Police Officer Don Juan Alejo Rodríguez García, Police Officer Don Juan González Carrera, Police Officer Don Sergio González Betancort, as well as to the Agents of the National Police, Police Officer Doña Estrella de los Mares Hernández Rodríguez, Police Officer Don Tomás Castro Porteiro and Don Mariano Martínez Vendrell, for the dismantling of up to five associations dedicated to drug trafficking in the municipality of Arrecife, after an arduous work of surveillance and investigation, carried out by members of the Citizen Security and Intervention Unit, in collaboration and coordination with the Narcotics Group of the National Police.
Don Juan Gutiérrez received a plaque for his retirement as a local police officer in Arrecife.
The decorations, which included recognitions to firms that have collaborated with the Local Police, ended when the "agent" Nala, with 10 years in the Canine Unit of Arrecife specialized in drug interventions, received a medal of gratitude, which was imposed by the mayor. Lala is retiring and received yesterday, the medal for her police services.
