Palma.Three unions representing the National Police yesterday claimed that their members were losing the sense of efficiency of which they had previously been proud and were highly demotivated due to the severe cuts which had been imposed by Central Government.
The union representatives said that as a result of being pushed to the limit, they won't be taking part today in the National Police Day.
The Union for the Confederation of Spanish Police and two other unions representing all members of the National Police said yesterday that the force finds itself at one of the lowest moments of its recent history.
Spokesmen attributed the situation to a number of factors, including errors that would appear to have been repeated over time, including inequality in pay, poor equipment and chaotic public administration policies. The spokesmen furthered that recent salary cuts hadn't helped the situation, neither had budget cuts over the past two years.
The spokesmen said the situation was nothing to celebrate and that members would therefore not be attending any National Police Day commemorative events scheduled for today.
As a demonstration of being at the end of their tether, said the spokesmen, when other officers and their families will be out celebrating the event, union representatives will be holed up in police stations where they have their offices. It's not up to us to dictate policy which will help retrieve the extra pay which National Police normally had over the Christmas period, but yes, what we can do is act as models in a shop window which will show ordinary people the low state of morale to which serving officers have sunk. The movement against cuts in the National Police force funding appear to be gaining island-wide support with Ibizan National Police spokesperson Carlos Muñoz saying yesterday that money was being spent on a luxury police commissioner's office on Ibiza and there wasn't even enough material for the shooting practice gallery.