The head of the National Police in Catalonia, Luis Fernando Pascual, will go to Madrid. Yesterday, the Ministry of the Interior revealed one of the unknowns that caused the most rumblings within the body: who will be in charge of the judicial police station, one of the most weighty units in the structure, since in they depend on the fight against corruption, specialized crime, drug trafficking and organized crime, among others.
The position had been vacant since the autumn, when the previous chief commissioner Rafael Pérez retired. The crosshairs indicated that Pérez’s natural replacement would be his number two, chief commissioner María Pilar Merino. But in the end it will not be a woman who will pilot the judicial police, despite the fact that it has enormous prestige among magistrates and prosecutors.
Sources from the management of the National Police assure that the decision has been taken in accordance with professional criteria, considering the operational scale of the vacant post, which will have more than 10,000 uniformed officers under its command. The central unit for economic and fiscal crime (UDEF), the anti-drugs and organized crime unit (Udyco) and the specialized and violent crime unit (UDEV) are under the umbrella of the judicial police.
Pascual, who joined the force in 1982, has been in charge of the Higher Directorate of Police of Catalonia since October 2021. Like his predecessor in the position, José Antonio, he has worked in dialogue, collaboration and cooperation with the Mossos d’Esquadra. Currently, according to police sources, “the relationship is extraordinary”, after that stage of rupture with the background process. The same sources explain that the interim head of the Police in Catalonia will be “very short”. The relay has already been decided, but is being kept secret for now.
The next general commissioner of the judicial police took his first steps in uniform at the Hospitalet de Llobregat police station and at the Directorate Superior of Catalonia. He later moved to the operational sub-directorate and in 1989 he moved to the Upper Directorate of Aragon. In 1995 he was transferred to the province of Huesca, where he held operational and management responsibilities. After his promotion in 2020 to chief commissioner, he took charge of the Zaragoza provincial police station.
He has received several decorations, among which stand out a Police Cross of Merit with a Red Badge and two with a White Badge, as well as numerous public congratulations and recognition from other institutions, such as the silver Professional Merit medal from Zaragoza City Council.
