Coppers with capes
Police in Alicante dress up to help keep carnival peace
EVERY year, there are minority crimes related to carnival celebrations in Alicante City. This year, in an attempt to reduce delinquency and thefts, National Police officers carried out an operation that included radio patrols cars from the city’s prevention and response unit, motorcycling brigade, public order unit, as well as plain-clothes officers and even some dressed up in fancy dress to mingle in with revellers.
More than 50,000 people celebrated the carnivals on Saturday night in the city.
Uniformed police were visible in the areas forming a perimeter around where the carnival was taking place; this was to dissuade possible delinquents from entering. Police cars patrolled the main streets to give back up to the rest of the units.
The officers in disguise, mingled in with the rest of the carnival goers, to be able to observe, control and intervene rapidly in areas not quickly accessible by those in uniform.
There were different control points set up to prevent and detect sexually related crimes, as part of the ‘No is No’ campaign, and none were reported.
The number of petty thefts and material and personal damages were reduced in comparison to previous years.
The National Police operation ended with seven people arrested, two of whom were in fancy dress stealing mobile phones. Various premises were inspected and 45 fines were handed out for consuming and possessing drugs.
The National Police operation also coordinated with local police and civil protection, in requesting medical assistance for people who were suffering from alcohol poisoning.
Local police kept busy
The city’s local police also had a busy Saturday night, seizing 2,032 litres of alcohol in 425 interventions from those drinking on public streets. 23 people were fined for littering, 26 for possessing drugs, and eight street sellers were fined as well.
Civil protection attended to 102 people in hospital tents set up for this purpose, 44 suffered slight injuries (mainly cuts and bruises) or bouts of dizziness, and they attended to 16 cases of alcohol poisoning, of which 10 were transferred by ambulance to hospital. Last year, 30 people were treated for alcohol poisoning.
Seventeen minors were attended to, six for alcohol poisoning and the rest suffering from bruises, cuts and dizziness. Their parents were contacted by the police to go and collect them.
Alicante’s safety councillor, said that both the national and local police operations avoided the mass consumption of booze in Canalejas Park and Postiguet beach.
Massive clean-up op
At 06.00 on Sunday morning, the cleaning brigades got to work and the streets were spotless by 10.00 in the morning. A total of 28 tonnes of rubbish were collected by 80 workers and 15 vehicles from the old town, the centre and Playa Postiguet.
The dirtiest areas were la Rambla, the esplanade, the entrance to Postiguet and also Gabriel Miró and Plaza Nueva squares.