Multiple recidivism, its consequences and the legislative strategies to combat it more effectively are currently marking, once again, the political debate around security. It is enough to take a look at last year’s police statistics in Barcelona to understand the magnitude of a phenomenon that represents a very high percentage of criminal activity.
In the Catalan capital alone and last year, the Mossos d’Esquadra and the Barcelona Urban Police detained 25 individuals on 893 occasions, according to data to which La Vanguardia has had access. Some criminals, all men, who have accumulated 1,423 police records.
Just do some simple divisions to see that on average each of these individuals was arrested 35 times last year, almost three times a month. About 71% of the arrests were for property crimes, thefts and robberies with force and intimidation; although they also have arrests for robberies with violence and intimidation.
There is more data on the police and judicial activity of these characters that helps to better understand why certain political and social leaders have been warning for months that the reform of the Penal Code linked to multiple recidivism and which came into force in 2022 is not working.
These 25 people went to prison 124 times last year, but in 80% of the cases the stay in a penitentiary center was less than two months.
With exceptions, for example, one of them has a police record since 2005 and another a couple in 2006, the vast majority of this list of the top ten of multiple repeat offenders are recent arrivals and all their criminal activity is concentrated in 2023, which he has just finished.
These are criminals who live exclusively off robbery, neglecting it if they see the opportunity, although they do not rule out applying force or violence if there is resistance from the victim. Wallets, bags, mobile phones, chains and to a lesser extent high-end watches are the most coveted loot for these repeat offenders who have discovered the great impunity that the waiting times of the judicial system allow them.
Today, any of them who are detained by a pair of police officers or urban guards in Barcelona will be given a summons for a quick trial in July. Until that appointment arrives in one of the two reinforcement courts for minor crimes that Barcelona has, you can continue stealing.
Two months ago, La Vanguardia presented a report prepared by the lawyer Emilio Zegrí on behalf of a few agents from the commercial and business sphere of Barcelona in which he proposed a series of measures to address the problem.