The Ministry of the Interior has imposed a sanction of a month and a half of suspension of functions as perpetrators of a serious misconduct to two of the four policemen who were expedited last June for not detecting the entry into what is considered the most guarded police facility in Spain, the Canillas National Police complex (Madrid), of a minor who stole two pistols, ammunition and various police effects. The other two agents on file have received lesser punishments, of 20 and three days respectively, as stated in internal documents of the Ministry of the Interior to which EL PAÍS has had access. The four agents are waiting to receive the official notification of the sanctions to begin complying with it, detail several union sources.
The events that have led to the sanctions against the four policemen —which means the loss of employment and salary during the time of the sanction— occurred on June 12 of last year. As revealed by the internal investigation, that Sunday, a 17-year-old boy jumped in broad daylight the wall that surrounds the main operational headquarters of the National Police, where they have their offices, spread over different buildings, most of the general police stations and specialized units, including those in charge of fighting organized crime and terrorism. Despite the fact that the facility has significant security measures both on its perimeter and inside, and access is highly restricted, the minor wandered around the area without hiding and, later, slipped into one of the buildings through the window. Once inside, he broke into several lockers and stole two guns and other items. All this without being detected. Later, he left the place after saving the wall again.
The robbery was not known until hours later, in another Madrid neighborhood located 10 kilometers away, a police patrol stopped the young man when he was exhibiting one of the stolen weapons on the street. In the subsequent search of his home, the other pistol was located. When checking the serial number of one of them, the agents who had arrested him discovered that a police officer was listed as the owner, so they contacted her by telephone. The agent assured her colleagues that she had no proof of the robbery and that she had left her weapon under lock and key in a locker of the Canillas police complex, where she was stationed. It was then, after being notified, that the security officers of the police complex reviewed the CCTV images and discovered what had happened.
FSP and ACR, the two policemen who have now received the highest penalties for the event, were stationed that Sunday, precisely, in the room of the police station where the images from the security cameras are viewed in real time. According to file 190/2022 of the Disciplinary Regime Unit, the two agents did not detect the presence of the minor despite the fact that he was “walking in full view of the cameras that they had to monitor, going so far as to exhibit under the control of the monitors two pistols that he had managed to steal.” The document adds that, when the young man jumped over the wall to leave the premises, “visual alarm signals” were activated due to the intrusion without, despite this, the agents noticing. For all these reasons, Interior considers both authors a serious offense under article 8, section X, of the Police Disciplinary Regime, which punishes “the infraction of duties or obligations inherent to the position or police function, when they occur seriously and manifests”, and imposes on each one a month and 15 days of suspension from duties.
The VFP officer, who that day was the head of security at the compound on the afternoon shift, has also been penalized for the same article. The file details that, in her case, one of the agents under her command joined the shift late, “which forced us to start the shift with one less official.” It was at that moment that the minor slipped into the compound. Interior concludes that this police officer is also the author of a serious offense because she “was not interested in the reasons for the official’s delay, nor did she ask him for explanations, not reporting that fact to superiors.” However, in his case the penalty is less: 20 days of suspension from duties. The fourth agent, also an official JMS, is the one who has received the lowest sanction, three days, as the ministry considers that his actions are only worthy of slight reproach. The file details that, as head of the complex’s security morning shift, “he did not ensure that the ordered patrols were carried out.”
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