Policing is costing more but policing where it matters is not there

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 Monday, January 20, 2020 - 11:09

Talking Point

The government says that reports in the press (NOT in Panorama) that say that two Moroccan nationals have been found inside Gorham’s Cave are inaccurate.

World Heritage Office staff from the Gibraltar National Museum reported to the RGP two persons landing on the rocky shore below the lookout platform at Europa Advance Batteries 1 & 2 in the morning of Wednesday. This shoreline falls within the Gorham’s Cave Complex World Heritage Site but no access was gained from there into Gorham’s Cave itself, which could not have been possible from land given the abrupt topography of the terrain.

Be that as it may, three persons have gained access to Gibraltar without carrying any proper documentation, with the public wondering if the security of Gibraltar is in need of attention.

We hear of more police, customs and borders agency requiring more staff, or having acquired more staff, but what is going on?

If three persons are able to enter Gibraltar illgally (one was found in Main Street!) it is obvious that the security systems in place leave much to be desired. How secure is Gibraltar?

The RGP have been growing by leaps and bounds, and people ask: What for?

It appears that they are used, not to protect Gibraltar, but to provide a free service to Spain. Can we afford such luxury?

And in the meantime policing is depleted in

other areas where the public is crying out for improved services.

The RGP is a local police force to essentially take proper care of local deficiencies, not to think they are a major international force, as if Gibraltar was the size of a major nation. A sense of grandeur, of patting themselves on the back, is palpable - but policing where it matters for the Gibraltar population is not there.

In salaries alone the RGP is costing the taxpaper over £15 million a year so the public expects improved services in Gibraltar for Gibraltar - policing by consent, as was the slogan not that long ago.

20-01-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR.