New Local Police law means villages in Andalucía will be able to share officers

The new Local Police law in Andalucía, which has now been approved by the Andalusian government and passed to parliament, includes a clause which will enable small villages to share the services of a Local Police force.

The law insists that there must be at least five officers in every Local Police force in Andalucía, and every municipality with 5,000 or more inhabitants must have a Local Police force of its own.

Some villages only have one Local Police officer at present and would struggle to maintain five, so this means they will now be able to share the resources of bigger municipalities and have more than one officer on patrol at a time.

The new law will increase coordination between Local Police forces and will “benefit over 10,000 officers and Andalucía’s 787 municipalities,” said the regional government’s spokesman, Elías Bendodo.

The law is intended to promote equality within the police force and, as well as other measures, states that if a police officer is breastfeeding she can be temporarily excused from some duties with no loss of salary.

The role of municipal ‘vigilantes’ will also be regulated to differentiate their duties from those of trained officers of the Local Police force. And finally, the Andalusian Institute of Emergencies and Public Safety (IESPA) will be involved in training officers on different issues including school absenteeism, road safety, diversity, equality and gender violence.