Mayor Toni Pérez describes the Local Police as the “flagship and spearhead” of Benidorm
Benidorm Local Police celebrates its 181st anniversary
At the event, awards and decorations were given to entities and agents for the services provided
Benidorm Local Police has commemorated its one hundred and eighty-first anniversary with a display by the K9 Unit and the Response and Prevention Group (GRP) in front of the Town Hall and with an institutional event in the Town Hall's Assembly Hall, in which awards and badges were given to officers and commemorative entities.
After ten o'clock in the morning, the public gathered at Plaza de Sus Majestades los Reyes de España was able to enjoy the display by the popularly known as the 'Paw Patrol' of Benidorm, the K9 Unit, which demonstrated the harmony between the GRP officers, trainers and canines in five fictitious exercises starring Hanko and Kili in which the dogs have been the key that has allowed the perpetration of various crimes in public places to be avoided.
After the show, the Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, and the Chief of the PLBND, Luis Martín Arévalo, have reviewed the officers trained in front of the main façade of the Town Hall. The official ceremony was then held in the Assembly Hall.
The Councillor for Public Service, Jesús Carrobles, and other members of the municipal corporation, accompanied the mayor in the tribute to the force, which was also attended by the regional deputies José Ramón González de Zárate and Mario Villar; the regional secretary for Housing of the Generalitat, Sebastián Fernández, also attended; the commissioner of the National Police in Benidorm, Luis Manuel Sánchez; and the lieutenant of the Traffic Detachment of the Civil Guard, Manuel Sánchez, among many other representatives of the city's civil society.
In his official speech, Toni Pérez defined the Benidorm Local Police as the “flag and spearhead” of Benidorm. A force of a city that does not yet reach 75,000 inhabitants, capable of serving more than 380,000” people as it has demonstrated at peak times of the summer high season. The Local Police is the “first calling card” for a person who finds themselves in difficulty when coming to Benidorm. Toni Pérez has encouraged them to “get out” of the car or “leave the motorbike aside” to assist the citizen or visitor and advise them “by referring them” to the municipal or Administration services they need.
The mayor stressed his commitment to the force, founded in 1844 with examples such as the professional career or the Job Evaluation in the City Council, “a desire of more than 15 years”.
Toni Pérez, on the occasion of today's celebration of March 8, had words of tribute to the force by recalling that, during the mandate of José Such Ortega, at the time of the UCD (Democratic Centre Union), the first promotion of female police officers was launched in Benidorm, “some of whom are still active in other municipal services”.
For his part, Mayor Luis Arévalo said that police officers “are people who work for people” who must try to “guarantee a safe life” for their fellow citizens and claimed the need to increase the number of agents to provide the best service to the city.
Award Ceremony
During the event, the Sociocultural Association of the Local Police presented recognition to the Cultural and Recreational Association ‘La Barqueta’ and the PLBND others of gratitude to the National Police, Civil Guard, Benidorm Firefighters, Local Assembly of the Red Cross and the municipal concessionaire Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas.
Likewise, the body has presented its commemorative coin to the people who have made a special contribution to the institution, a gift that has been given to José Fuster, president of Civil Protection; Antonio Zamora, coordinator of Rescue and First Aid of the beach concessionaire; the chief prosecutor of the Courts of Benidorm, Mª Isabel Medina; and the senior judge, Joan Francesc Vives.
The Generalitat's awards and decorations were then presented to members of the Local Police Corps, including Antonio Ortega, Jaime Ángel González, Manuel Risueño, Álvaro Fuertes, José Tomás Galaví, Francisco Javier Sánchez, Mireia Cruz, David Fontanet, Mario César Martínez, José Ramón Fuentes, David Torres, José Casto, Ramón Agüero, Alejando Andrés, Marcos Perles, Cyntia Romero, Yolanda Bocos, Jorge Ferrer and Jorge Martín.
On the other hand, officers David González and Jesús López were awarded the Cross of Police Merit with Blue Distinction for their notoriety in the fulfilment of duty and exemplary conduct. Finally, the PLBND presented a diploma and a commemorative coin to the officers who retired last year: Francisco Javier Gallego, Emilio Espejo, Saúl Pablo Pastor, Juan Vicente Soler and Juan Miguel Igualada.
