The death of a man last Sunday after being stabbed in the neighborhood of Pubilla Cases and a series of robberies in the Gornal neighborhood have once again put the sense of insecurity perceived by the residents of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelonès) back into the focus of the debate this week.
In recent days, both social networks and the streets have been filled with comments that cry against “insecurity & rdquor; in the neighborhoods of the city.
In the case of Gornal, around a hundred neighbors They gathered this Wednesday, September 21, on the Rambla de Carmen Amaya to ask the City Council for more security and police presence in the area. “We are up to our noses”remarked during the protest the president of the Gornal Neighborhood Association, Antonio Yanez.
Thus, the residents of Gornal have announced future mobilizations to claim more resources for the neighborhood.
Complaints about the lack of security and incivility in the city are increasingly recurrent. In fact, the last municipal barometer reflects how the feeling of insecurity in the neighborhoods of L’Hospitalet has been shot.
Yes in 2017 20% of the neighbors considered that insecurity was the main problem of the city -the third in the ‘ranking’; behind cleaning (24%) and immigration (20.2%)-, in 2021, 41.7% they considered it the main problem, far behind the second: cleanliness (22.5%).
crimes continue
The figures of the barometer on the perception of insecurity in L’Hospitalet contrast with the number of criminal offenses registered by the Ministry of the Interior: in 2017 a total of 15,649 crimeswhile in 2021 the final balance was 15,239 violationsthat is, 410 less than five years ago, when insecurity was positioned as the third problem in the city.
Raphael MartinezProfessor of Political Science at the University of Barcelona and a specialist in Security policies, points out that the feeling of insecurity in society tends to grow exponentially, “many times due to the large amounts of information that people receive, although the data may say otherwise&rdquor ;, while the security takes longer to penetrate.
A study of Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies of Barcelona (IRMB) published in February 2022 highlights the feeling of insecurity “does not necessarily adjust to the territorial distribution of criminal activity & rdquor ;.
The study also resolves that the tendency to suspend the level of security in neighborhoods “does not depend so much on the concentration of crimes in the area where you live as well as the personal and individual experience of having suffered a criminal act”.
Incivism, noise and occupations
Beyond the specific violent crimes, such as the crime of a man last Sunday, Pepe CastroDeputy Mayor for Coexistence and Security, recognizes that it seems “very worrying & rdquor; that insecurity is the main phenomenon highlighted by the population.
Thus, it emphasizes that, after the pandemic, “there has been a very strong uncorking & rdquor ;. “After covid, people are more on the street and, for example, now we have a problem with large bottles that we didn’t have before. It is a new and post-pandemic phenomenon & rdquor ;, continues the councilor.
According to Castro, many of the situations that concern residents are more related to problems of “coexistence & rdquor; and “incivism & rdquor; that in crime although he points out that situations such as the multiple recidivism of some people or the occupation of empty houses and premises also influence the increase in the feeling of insecurity of the neighbors, although it does not necessarily happen to them.
Most groups in the consistory share a good part of Castro’s speech. Anthony Garciaspokesman for CKD L’Hospitalet, defends that, although L’Hospitalet is “a safe city & rdquor ;, there are “problems of incivility and coexistence & rdquor; and that, if they are not solved, “the perception of insecurity grows & rdquor ;.
For its part, Anna Gonzalezspokesman for In Comú Podem in the town hall adds to the noise and the bottles the consequences of the urban typology of the city. “In the northern neighborhoods of the city there is a high population density and any situation that happens on the street or in a square is oversized because everyone finds out & rdquor ;, comments González.
In fact, in the neighborhoods in the northern part of L’Hospitalet, such as Collblanc, La Torrassa or La Florida the feeling of insecurity is even greater and about 50% of the population considers it to be the main problem Township. These figures contrast with those of the neighborhoods of the Centerwhere security is only considered the main problem by 23.8% of residents.
more police
All opposition groups agree in claiming both the City Council and the Generalitat an increase in the number of police officers to carry out local police tasks or to attend to all the requirements that arrive.
“More agents are needed, not everything is reached. The local government and the Generalitat must implement more resources and units,” he points out Miguel Garciaof Citizens. In the same line it is expressed Sonia Espluguessole councilor PP in the town hall: “It is good that the City Council asks for more Mossos, but it must also increase the number of agents of the Urban Guard.
According to Pepe Castro, L’Hospitalet needs a minimum of 800 police: 400 from the Urban Guard, 325 from the Mossos d’Esquadra and 75 from the National Police. Castro defends that in recent years the number of agents has grown and that, currently, they have 380 Guardia Urbana agents. Thus, municipal sources indicate that in the city there is a workforce of 286 Mossos agents, 39 less than the minimum required by the consistory.
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“Due to the lack of police officers, we have had to set up units of the Urban Guard such as the Special Intervention Unit to deal with public order issues such as large bottles, even though it is not our responsibility,” Castro maintains.
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