If you haven’t heard of it before, Alertcops is an official application for mobile phones developed by the Spanish Government, available via the official app stores, and facilitates direct contact with the security services, such as the police and Guardia Civil.
Once you have downloaded the app you will need to register your details, including your NIE for example, but the good news is that the application is available in multiple languages, including English.
Once you have got through the registration process, you can carry out a test, and then the app will sit on your mobile, hopefully never being needed, but if you do need to summon help a few clicks can have the police respond to your call for help, with the help of digital information that you can send to the system, such as photographs and the exact location.
One such use of the app was highlighted in a Facebook group, where a user posted pictures of a group of people they witnessed removing locks and chains from an empty property in San Luis, Torrevieja.
Although there are potential legal and privacy issues in posting the information on Facebook, it was with good intention, but more importantly the user commented that they had sent the information to the Alertcops app,
Subsequent comments on the post confirmed that other users witnessed the Guardia Civil in attendance, talking to people at the scene, and the case file later closed as resolved.
In this case, a simple action of submitting information and pictures via Alertcops has seen a resolution, and even if there were no bad intentions, the police are able to attend, ascertain the circumstances, and deal with whatever matters may arise appropriately.
There are various set functions and reports in the app, including squatting, and robbery, and a special alert system for emergencies. You can also set family or close friends as your contacts and share your location with them.
