Campoverde residents met with the mayor of Pilar de la Horadada, José María Pérez, on Wednesday along with the councillor for Security, Maria del Mar Sáez, and commanders of the Local Police and the Civil Guard, to discuss the increase in local robberies in the village, a situation that has led to the launch of neighbourhood street patrols, so as to deter attempted assaults.
The meeting, which lasted for about two hours, was attended by 30 people. The Civil Guard and Local Police reminded participants on the importance of the thefts being formally reported because the volume of complaints allows requests for reinforcements to be processed.
They also said that images of the stolen objects would be useful, and could help with their recovery, as well as enabling police to return the items to their owners.
It was explained that since the robberies began, the patrols have been increased by the Local Police and the Civil Guard, which has reduced the frequency of robberies.
The mayor spoke of police resources that are available in Pilar de la Horadada City. Under normal circumstances, 3 patrols are on duty to cover the 78 square kilometres of the municipal area, from a total 52 agents.
A spokesman for the residents pointed out that, based on the municipal population census, there should be five police officers permanently based in the urbanisation that has thousands of homes and 5,000 permanent residents, of many different nationalities.
A council spokesperson pointed out that they ask for authority from the Government Subdelegation for extra police reinforcements every year, and that the question will be put once again to the next local safety board meeting, both for an increase on the number of Civil Guard officers in Torre de la Horadada, which also manages the security of Orihuela Costa, and for the Local Police.
Residents were once again asked to avoid local patrols in which members of the public have taken to the streets with bats and golf clubs. It was stressed that “any conflict would be likely to put them in danger.”
The Council announced that it is now launching a campaign providing advice to residents about home burglaries. In addition, more security cameras will be installed throughout the municipality, two of them in Pinar de Campoverde, and each year they will be increased.
