For the third consecutive year, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Community of Madrid highlights in its annual report the increase in crimes committed by minors. So much so, that the organization has had to expand the team to cope with the increase in work in this area. In 2022, 34 minors were accused of participating in a homicide, while the previous year there were 23 – 47% more. For the senior prosecutor, Almudena Lastra, this data is “extremely worrying”, as she stated this Thursday at the opening of the judicial year in Madrid. In 2017, eight were charged with this same crime.
The public ministry also highlights that 157 sexual assaults were recorded, compared to 86 the previous year, which represents an increase of 82.56%. “It is essential to adopt measures, especially educational, that provide minors with the knowledge and tools that allow them to properly manage their relationships and sexual development. The intervention must be early and multidisciplinary, thus preventing those from naturalizing violence,” the report says.
To interpret the data with the facts, 2022 was a year of explosion of violence by youth gangs, whose activity led to six murders, two of them of two 15-year-old boys. In 2023, the fatal results of their brawls have been significantly reduced and there has only been one homicide to date, committed in the district of Tetouan in March. However, more than the annual data, the prosecutor’s office analyzes the trend and that is why it asks for solutions outside the criminal sphere, precisely to prevent these minors from ending up in front of a judge.
The prosecution also highlights that many of these defendants had previous police reports, especially those in the age group between 16 and 18. For this reason, prosecutors ask for “comprehensive and multidisciplinary” action. This call for attention is in line with what the State Attorney General’s Office made two weeks ago, which also referred to the naturalization of violence by young people.
But this increase in aggressiveness at an early age is perceived in other areas, such as gender violence. The prosecution has detected a “significant increase” in cases of abuse in extremely young couples. “A total of 959 cases of mutual attacks have been registered in the guard service, which is equivalent to 11.5% of the proceedings initiated,” the report reads. This percentage falls within a scenario in which open procedures for gender violence have increased considerably, especially in the capital, where 31,229 have been initiated compared to 17,563 the previous year.
The statistical data also shows an increase in abuse in the family, especially in cases of children who attack their parents, which is known as ascending abuse. In 2022, 1,152 procedures were initiated for these attacks, when in 2021 there were 706, that is, there has been a growth of 63%. “This should make us reflect on the educational model,” Almudena Lastra insisted.
What affects the most is what happens closest. So you don’t miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe
Other crimes
Beyond the scope of juvenile justice, the report offers a portrait of crime in the Community of Madrid. One of the areas that most concerns the prosecutor’s office is road safety, an area in which proceedings have grown by 45% compared to the previous year. The crime that has increased the most is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, which has gone from 1,930 cases to 3,061, an increase of 58.60%. In this section, prosecutors make special reference to the so-called personal mobility vehicles (MVP), especially scooters, which in recent years have emerged as a sustainable alternative to urban mobility, although their fit into road safety still raises doubts. These vehicles have caused fatal accidents.
“In 2022, there are various interventions by the Municipal Police in relation to the VMP. Among them, the intervention in 97 accidents resulting in damage, 496 accidents resulting in minor injuries and 24 accidents resulting in serious injuries stands out,” the document states. The report highlights that the majority of the procedures initiated correspond to irregularity in the driving of scooters that have a power and speed equivalent to mopeds, without being registered as such. He points out that they are sold to the consumer without informing them of these characteristics, but this is not always the case: “On many occasions it is the users themselves who fail to comply or do not respect the rules for the correct use of these vehicles, mainly driving on the sidewalk.” with the consequent risk for pedestrians.”
The report also detects an increase in crimes against public health (drug trafficking). In 2022, 3,050 proceedings were initiated in this area, 15% more than the previous year. According to the public ministry, the bulk of these issues are due to the “continuous dismantling of hashish and marijuana plantations, which have spread throughout a large part of the Community of Madrid, under roofs and, in some cases, in underground places.” The document states that Spain has become one of the main producers of this drug. “This increase, without a doubt, is related to the great economic benefit that those investigated obtain from the crops, together with the low penalty provided for this type of substance,” the prosecutors point out.
Another of the conflict points that they point out in the report is the Cañada Real, a common scene of police operations and dismantling of points of sale. The anti-drug prosecutors mention in particular the Barro operation of the Civil Guard, and the Pipa operation of the National Police, carried out in various sectors of the area, with 44 detainees and 22 searches carried out and “where the illegal consumption of electricity by of those investigated, in a single day, was equivalent to that carried out by the entire La Gavia Shopping Center.”
Subscribe here to our daily newsletter about Madrid.
#Madrid #Prosecutors #Office #calls #early #educational #measures #minors #trivialize #sex #violence