ATTACKS on police officers in the Balearics are at their highest in 16 years, with approximately 500 incidents reported last year.
The Spanish Police Confederation (CEP) blamed the numbers on a loss of respect for authority.
It added ‘attacking a police officer is apparently almost cost-free’ as ‘hardly anyone ends up in prison.’
Convictions of those who assault cops were up 128% in 2021, although in most cases they received a suspended sentence.
The CEP has called for tougher penalties and fines for assaulting a police officer.
Nationally, in 2022, there was a record-breaking number of assaults on police officers and Civil Guard members in the last fifteen years, averaging 35 cases per day, exceeding a thousand per month.
Those who obstruct their work and film or livestream the confrontation for social media should also face tougher penalties, it demanded.
The CEP notes that seven out of ten assaults target the National Police, prompting the union to launch the ‘Tiene Delito’ campaign in June, aimed at raising awareness about this issue and advocating for measures to enhance the physical and legal protection of officers.
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