The Mossos d’Esquadra have reinforced surveillance in Horta de Lleida with plainclothes agents following the rise in robberies during the first quarter of 2024.
The chief mayor of the Segrià Basic Police Area, Xavier Ribelles, highlights that since 2019, robberies in this agricultural area of ??the city with many dispersed houses had decreased by 34.6%. There are five consecutive years of decline and that is why they see that in a certain way this increase has a certain logic because the “top” of the decline had been reached.
In relation to the latest violent assaults at homes, Ribelles has said that the police have a “good” line of investigation and they hope to catch those responsible soon. The Mossos also emphasize that somatenes are not recommended and even “bother” them.
The Mossos d’Esquadra have noted a “slight” increase in crimes in Horta de Lleida so far this year and that is why they assure that as soon as they detected it they decided to increase their presence in this agricultural area of ??the city.
According to Inspector Xavier Ribelles, since February there has been a greater police force in “certain areas” with citizen security patrols.
In this sense, he regrets that despite the increase, they did not obtain the result they expected and that is why as of March 15 they began to implement a device with greater “intensity and presence”, which added troops from Arro and also from the Urban Guard.
Ribelles highlights that these services, apart from “making a presence”, are also very close to the neighbors, since they talk to them and visually they can see checkpoints at road crossings where there is more “movement of people and vehicles.”
A third phase has been to increase surveillance with plainclothes personnel. They are busy trying to locate the criminals and that is why they trust that they will soon be able to start making arrests. And despite the high police presence, in recent weeks there have been robberies with force in which some owners have even been attacked by the assailants.
In situations like this, where victims are at home when the thieves break in, the police always recommend that the best option is to try to flee rather than confront the assailants. In this way, 112 can be alerted to what is happening and also take references to the characteristics of the criminals so that the police can later catch them.
The greater number of robberies in the Horta de Lleida has once again brought to light the desire on the part of some residents to organize somatenes to go through the different games at night and try to scare away the thieves.
Inspector Ribelles highlights that the somatenes “annoy” the police because they generate “confusion” to the plainclothes patrols and can involuntarily generate conflicts. “No somatén has ever contributed positive things to the reduction of criminal acts despite the voices that may say so,” notes Ribelles, who also warns that in no case should these citizen patrols be armed since this is legal” and would mean a big risk.
Crime figures in Horta de Lleida have been decreasing over the last 5 years. For this reason, the Mossos believes that the “peak” of this decline had already been reached and that it even makes some sense that there was an increase during the first quarter of 2024. Ribelles also highlights that this increase is very similar to the indices of 2019, therefore they are not “that worrying” figures.
