Through the back door and with treachery. This is how the Minister of the Interior has acted, Fernando Grande-Marlaskawhich has not hesitated to use the Royal Decree of aid for DANA toto avoid the forced retirement of Commissioner José Angel González, a high-ranking official of his trust within the National Police. Specifically, the Executive has included the modification of the organic law that affects the retirement of agents at 65 years of age and has “twisted” it so that “the head of the Deputy Operational Directorate of the National Police (DAO) can remain on active duty while holding said position“. Or what is the same, until Marlaska decides to resign.
The fifth final provision, published this Tuesday in the Official State Gazette (BOE), modifies article 5.2 of Organic Law 9/2015 of the National Police Personnel Regime, with the aim of delaying the retirement of one of the men of confidence of the minister, José Ángel González, as he did in the past with the DAO of the Civil Guard.
Needless to say, despite their attempts to sneak this change through the back door, it has finally come to light. “Victims in exchange for maintaining their political arm within the Police. The latest indignity of Marlaska,” denounced the PP Interior spokesperson, Ana Vázquez, one of the first to realize this ruse. And she wondered Why, with 77,000 police officers and 170 chief commissioners, “only that one works for them.”
“National emergency” by a senior official
The justification of this measure, by the Executive, is also included in the text of the second royal decree of aid by DANA: “In this national emergency situation It would be highly dysfunctional to proceed with the replacement of the person, at the head of the Deputy Operational Directorate, who is directing and coordinating on the ground the operational functions of the National Police personnel.” The document also specifies that “these functions take on special relevance in an emergency like the one caused by DANA, particularly in the Valencian Community, which has determined the deployment of more than 10,000 national police and civil guardss, in order to rescue survivors, guarantee security and restore normality on the streets.”
However, it must be remembered that in an appearance in the Senate, on October 24, Marlaska already announced that they were studying how to avoid the retirement of the DAO of the Police, which he described as “impeccable” and “indisputable.” Their objective, they said, was to equate their situation with their counterpart in the Civil Guard, as now stated in the BOE.
“Premium retirement” for a single police officer
From the Spanish Police Confederation (CEP) they denounce the “shameful” initiative promoted by the ministry headed by Grande-Marlaska, by which they take advantage of a national catastrophe to “make it easier for the DAO” to have a “premium retirement”. Furthermore, the fact that the operational chief of the National Police is “the first and only member of the Corps who is allowed to enjoy this singular and exclusive privilege, has generated a very broad rejection among members of all levels,” they denounce.
From this union they point out that after months trying to use other regulations to carry out this reform, such as the General State Budget Law or the Sustainable Mobility Law – in which the PSOE tried to sneak an amendment justifying this measure-, the Government has resorted to a regulatory tool “linked to alleviating the effects of a national drama by which We Spaniards are still in mourning“, in what can only be conceived as a reprehensible and rejectable initiative.”
Thus, they insist on the “absolute lack of tact that Interior has exhibited in terms of how to promote this project.” The most serious thing, in his opinion, is that the 1,336 colleagues who are retiring are sentenced during this year to be discriminated against regarding the conditions under which they will stop providing active service. “This discrimination, this double standard, affects the economic sphere, precisely when all the national police are demanding a dignified retirement and being considered a risky profession“, they point out, which is why they consider that the change in current legislation made public today is nothing more than another “provocation” to all agents.
Finally, they consider that justifying this change by equating it to what already has been happening in the Civil Guard since 2014 constitutes an exercise in corporate provocation, since “an error cannot be justified by another previous one.”
Discontent in the police leadership
The agents of the National Police have also reacted, who are “surprised by the efforts and the exhaustive search that this Government has maintained for the formulas to be able to keep the Deputy Operational Director in his position, beyond the retirement age.” , while They deny us the formulas to be able to reform the legislation current related to the dignified retirement for all national police officers”. This has been pointed out by the Jupol union, who recall that legislation already exists and that it “applies to the rest of the police forces in Spain, except for the retirement of the National Police and the Civil Guard.” Now, after Marlaska’s latest trick, they are clearer than ever that when the Executive wants, “is open to looking for formulas to modify current legislation”.
In his opinion, “the lack of will of this Government” is evident, which only turns to its trusted personnel, leaving the agents stranded. And in this sense, they warn that this modification made through the back door represents a “grief”, not only with the rest of the police, but with the Governing Board of the National Police itself. A fact that, as explained by this union, “It is generating a lot of discontent among the police leadership”.