Euro Weekly News’ political opinion from Spain: Has policing by consent become outdated?

HAVING seen the viral photos of a police officer in Hackney, London on the ground being attacked by youths who don´t seem to care about any consequence, one can’t help but think that the balance between democracy and freedom are being pushed to the limits in the UK.

Policing by consent and not by force is the philosophy by which the UK has always tried to uphold the law. However, as pointed out by our man in the know when it comes to Spanish politics and rights, Jose Maria Rodrigo “The public respect towards the police in the last couple of weeks is shocking from a Spanish point of view and reflects a political problem which is clearly reflected in society. Without a balance between democracy and freedom towards its communities.”

Spanish police have been highly criticized by some of the English press in the past with their actions claimed to be “Draconian” or “disproportionate”.

However, Spain’s three main police forces seem to be able to balance out rights and openness.

The Policia Local, as their name points out are close to the communities and police by consent.

The Policia Nacional are focused in larger towns and cities and deal with harder types of crime and riots. It is their job to police by force when the situation requires them to maintain the status quo between democracy and freedom for all.

The Guardia Civil is perhaps the most versatile of the three as they will take the role of local police in the villages and back up the Policia Nacional when needed in riots.

Everybody in Spain has been able to see how these forces no-nonsense attitude to policing has guaranteed a lockdown which has seen excellent results, making residents feel safe.

To be able to police by consent there has to be a balance between communities and its police and from a Spanish point of view “the UK politicians have had a counter-productive attitude towards long-running issues which have been reflected these past weeks on the streets of Britain,” said Jose Maria.