On Monday, Esther Ribas announced her resignation as Chief of Calvia Police just two years into her tenure, citing personal and professional reasons. A group of officers now explain they had planned to send a letter to the mayor, Juan Antonio Amengual, demanding her dismissal. "To say that Esther Ribas's police management has been disastrous would be an understatement." The media has been given a copy of the letter.
The atmosphere within the force, they maintain, has been "heated" for some time. Officers, of which there are almost 200 in total, were unhappy and were looking at moves to police forces in other municipalities. "Esther Ribas was imposed on us as Chief of Police, entering through the back door, as a political appointee by Vox."
Much publicity was given to the creation of the plainclothes unit. This publicity came, the officers argue, from politicians in the town hall's security department, controlled by Vox. They state that powers for citizen security, "pure and simple", lie with the Guardia Civil. But many tasks assigned to this unit were "highly questionable". Instead of dedicating themselves to monitoring and enforcing municipal ordinances, officers from this unit, they claim, forced us to invade responsibilities that were completely alien to us and to follow the ideology of Vox, to the detriment of taking personnel away from other units".
They refer to the elimination of the Beach Unit, in existence for tourism seasons for decades for controlling crime and illegal selling on and around the beaches (Magalluf, Paguera, Santa Ponsa and more). This was a "political decision" by the Chief of Police which contradicted the mayor's guidelines and the promotion of beaches. "Incredible but true, the lack of coordination is total." They add that the drone unit has not been created either.
The criticism of Esther Ribas is scathing. "She has not performed many of the duties inherent to the position. Since the summer of 2023, she has not appeared to supervise the night service and take a personal interest in the work, difficulties, shortcomings. She doesn't know the municipality of Calvia. She never leaves her office, locked in her ivory tower. Her neglect and incompetence also affect the other part of the Security Area, the Civil Protection section."
Vox spokesperson at the town hall, Manuel Mas, has thanked Ribas for her work while acknowledging that "leading a force like the Calvia Police, with around 200 officers, is a very demanding position".