Thanks to a 40,000 euro grant from the Alicante provincial government, two years ago, the town of Daya Vieja, the smallest municipality in the Vega Baja, was able to purchase a new patrol car for the Local Police.
The good news is that the vehicle is looking almost as new as when it was delivered. The bad news is that the reason is that there are no police officers to drive it.
The residents of Daya Vieja were being protected by two local officers. But one of them left on secondment to another destination, and the other is on long-term sick leave.
Rafa Vives, the former Mayor and now councillor of the opposition, has questioned that this brand-new hybrid SUV police vehicle “looks” now “stranded on a lot” and that its lack of use has caused it to break down without having travelled a kilometre, whilst raising concerns that the town has been left without a police presence since May 31. The only workable police officer, he adds, served for 8 months in 2020, 5 in 2021 and just 6 weeks this year. The reason is said to be that he has gone to another destination on secondment, but in the local Council insist that he has been on leave.
Vives believes that the current Mayor, José Vicente Fernández, from Compromis, wants to dismantle the Local Police, which costs the municipal budget one hundred thousand euro a year for the two agents, who would not normally provide a service in the afternoon, at night and on weekends to the 800 residents.
On the other hand, Vives has questioned that the Mayor has spread the implementation of a video surveillance system with ten cameras on public roads – which will be expanded to 18 -, and he wonders who is going to be responsible for the custody of images and the use of the preventive system if there is no local police.
