Security and Sustainability

Enrique Eduardo Fernández Ferreira

Translated by Brenda Maritza Lozano

Summary. The objectives of sustainable developments compiled in the 2030 Agenda define the path to follow to reach a sustainable development, Integrating to the actual concept of security and in the focus of the Strategies of security adopted within the scope of the European Union. The dictums and demonstrations about the amplification of the concept of security, which include aspects relative to the protection of human rights, inclusive societies, and a peaceful and sustainable world, which leads us to justify and insist on the necessity to adopt an integral vision of security that incorporates to local structures.

Keywords: Globalization, global threats, security, strategies, integration, local administration

Security and Sustainability

Abstract. The sustainable development goals included in the 2030 Agenda define the way forward to achieve sustainable development, integrating them into the current concept of security and in the approach of the security strategies adopted in the environment of the European Union. The opinions and manifestations about the expansion of the concept of security, which include aspects related to the protection of human rights, inclusive societies and a peaceful and sustainable world, affect the need and priority for all organizations and administrations align with the same objective, which leads us to justify and insist on the need to adopt a comprehensive vision of security that incorporates local structures.

Keywords: Globalization, global threats, security strategies, integration, local administration.

Summary. 1. Introduction. 2. Globalization and security. 3. Security strategies. 4. Local administration and security. Conclusions. Bibliography.

Citation: Fernández Ferreira, E. E. (2021): Seguridad y sostenibilidad, en Cuadernos de Gobierno y Administración Pública 8-1, 59-70

1. _Introduction

“ We are in part responsible for the delay to wake up, given that we have not really done what we needed to have done. We have avoided, and in most cases ignored, the complicated series of historic phenomenons that originated from our dilemma” (Wilbur, 1973: 36).

The quote with which these pages start makes reference to the colonization, in the XVIII century, of the lands that gave place to the United States of America and Canada and to the looting of the indigenous cultures that lived in harmony with the environment where these societies were settled, and serves to call attention at the problems we face. One of the reflections that gives rise to this labor is that it revolves around the origins of globalization and the consideration that it is as ancient as human history, which has given rise to its  manifestation  in multiple fields, situating in this same debate plane the ideas which have influenced the concept of security and sustainability.

As of the Earth Summit, celebrated in Río de Janeiro in 1992, arose what came to be called as the Agenda 21, with the objective to influence policies and strategies at a globals scale towards a sustainable development and to achieve a development that satisfies the necessities of the present without compromising the possibility of future generations to satisfy their own necessities. 

The European Sustainable Cities and Towns Conference took place in Aalborg (Denmark) on May 1994, specified the principles of the Agenda 21, collected by the Aalborg charter, whereby the cities, small towns, territorial units of Europe compromised to participate in the local initiatives of the Agenda 21 and to initiate long-term programs towards sustainable development, compromises to which they adhered multiple city councils. These compromises defined the path to follow in municipal policy and they integrated themselves to the new idea of security, as well as the focus of the Security Strategies adopted in different spheres.

The Human Development Report 1994, developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), already refers to security as “ the condition for people to be able to exercise their options in a freely and secure manner, with a relative confidence that today’s opportunities will not disappear tomorrow”, considering that people’s security is a requirement for the enjoyment of human development. The report poses that the concept of security has to change in two fundamental senses: Of the exclusive emphasis in territorial security to a greater emphasis in the security of the population; security via the armaments to security through sustainable human development.

Finally, Member States of the United Nations approved in 2015 the 17 objectives that form part of the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. Initially a 15 year deadline has been fixed in order to achieve said goals, however a call was made this year that 2020 would constitute a new impetus for its achievement.

In parallel with the evolution of the concept of security, some countries have developed strategies of security in which, from an analysis of the international context, they describe the possible risks that can affect them and the manner in which they confront. In the same manner, the European Union (EU) has elaborated its own Strategy, in an attempt to offer a global vision and a shared understanding of the risks faced by member countries, in a globalized context which requires a common stance and positioning before the rest of the world.

The confluence of ideas around the necessity to reach a sustainable development, linked to the evolution of the concept of security supported by international organizations (United Nations, European Commission, Government of Spain), the serve a as a foundation in order insist, once more, the necessity to integrate the local sphere in the management of the objectives of security and sustainability as defined at a  global level. For this purpose, we will take a brief tour of the main ideas and decisions adopted in the field of security and of sustainability, which justify and support our standpoint.

2._Globalization and security

The amplifying of the concept of security was acquired in the Human Development Report of 1994, it established that human security is a requirement for the enjoyment of human development. The Report established seven main categories of threats against human security: economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security, and political security. Thus the new (not so new) concept of security places the emphasis on the person as the center of security policies. The ultimate aim of security is to protect the human being, even over the protection of the State’s integrity. The objective of security policy will therefore be that the citizens live in freedom, with rights, with dignity, and without fear, making them feel more secure and more confident. 

Such as defined by Jiménez Díaz (2006) when referring to the concept of personal security, we find ourselves before an imminently individual legal good, founded on freedom, whose essence lies in the peace of mind produced by the absence of fear. A double meaning fits into this concept. One that refers to the real situation the propitiates the necessary conditions of tranquility and stability for the individual to exercise their rights, and other one refers to the state of security that is to be felt by the individual, in a manner that permits the enjoying a position that makes it possible to act fully protected.

The Report by the Commission on Human Security (2003: 1), warns of the challenges to advance to the implementation of human security, affirming that:

• Human security complements state security, promotes human development and highlights human rights. It complements the State’s security by centering its focus on the people and facing insecurities that have not been considered as threats to the State. While contemplating this genre of additional risks, it broadens the focus of human development beyond the concept of “growth with equity”. The respect towards human rights constitutes the nucleus of the protection of human security.

Based on the above, the Commission (2003: 4) arrives at a series of conclusions about the policy, among others, in the following spheres:

• 1. Protect the people in violent conflicts.
• 6. Try to provide minimum standards of living everywhere.
• 7. Concede greatest priority to guarantee universal access to basic healthcare.
• 9.  Empower all people by imparting them a universal basic education.
• 10. Clarify the necessity of a global human identity, while respecting, the freedom of individuals to have multiple identities and affiliations.

The rulings and manifestations that have surged in the last decades when it comes to the amplifying of the concept of security, which include aspects relative to the protection of human rights, inclusive societies and a peaceful and sustainable world, emphasize again the need and priority that all organizations, institutions, and administrations to aligned before the same objective. 

As well as occurred with the economy, security has also seen itself affected by the effects of globalization. One of the principal manifestations constituted by organized and transnational delinquency, which has reached a special severity being the subject of treatment in the successive Security Strategies adopted at the core of the European Union.

According to Giménez-Salinas Framis (2012) the term organized crime makes reference to a set of crimes whose distinctive characteristics reside in the mode of commission of the crime, more specifically, in the fact that the criminal action will be carried out by various people that belong to one organization. For Salinas, the concept of organized crime incorporates an implicit will to highlight the relevance of planned and structured action by an organization in relation to a common unlawful purpose.

The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Delinquency of 2000 (in Spanish: Convención de Naciones Unidas contra la Delincuencia), in their 2° article, defines organized crime group as: “A group structured of three or more persons that exists during a certain time and act concertedly with the purpose of committing one or more grave crimes, with the intention of obtaining, directly or indirectly a material or economic benefit”. 

Among the initiatives in the European Union for the treatment of organized crime, it must be pointed out that the configuration of the groups of experts and the subscription to the agreements to adopt a standardized definition about transnational organized criminals (Reunión de Expertos sobre Criminalidad Organizada de INTERPOL de 1998; Convenio de Palermo de 2000). A result of these agreements, was a set of eleven indicators were established to consider a group as belonging to a criminal organization.

The system indicators established by the European Union (“Drug and Organized Crime” Task Force) and utilized by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), supposes the conceptualization of organized delinquency on the basis of a series of concrete or indicative characteristics, from a collection of eleven possible ones. Of all these, four of them need to be considered mandatory (the ones indicated with numbers 1,3,5 and 11) each Member State must add two more from among the remaining seven.

1. Collaboration of two or more persons.
2. Distribution of tasks.
3. Operating for a prolonged or indefinite period of time.
4. Existence of hierarchy, discipline or control.
5. Indications of the perpetration of crimes that by themselves or as a  whole are important.
6. Operability at an international level.
7. Use of violence or other suitable means to intimidate.
8. Use of commercial or corporate structures.
9. Money-laundering activities.
10. Exercise of influence in politics, media, public administration, judicial or economic authorities.
11. Seeking benefits or power.

The European Agency for Law Enforcement (Europol) contributes to the formulation of security policies and at the core of the EU, helping the member States in the prevention and the battle against all forms of international delinquency and terrorism. Its principal objective is to support the policing community of the EU, with the objective to stop and dismantle the terrorist and grave organized delinquency groups. To this end, collaborate with member States by promoting crime analysis and harmonizing investigative techniques:

• Facilitates the exchange of information between liaison officials of Europol (ELO). These officials are accredited by the member States as representatives of their national law enforcement.
• It conducts operational analyses to support the actions of the member states.
• It prepares strategic reports and crime analyses according to the database provided by the member states.
• It provides expertise and technical assistance in investigations and proceedings within the EU, under the supervision and legal responsibility of the interested Member States.

The report about organized crime made by Europol in 2003, already established that in the EU some 4,000 organized crime groups already operated with more than 40,000 members. As for the Spanish State, the report speaks of the existence of 542 criminal groups, with 4,250 members, of which 249 are related to drug trafficking, 72 to human trafficking, 49 to illegal immigration, 43 to extortion and another 43 to counterfeiting. Money laundering is one of the activities of drug trafficking or human trafficking groups and is detected in 116 of these groups.

The fronts on which organized crime operates are manifested in different scopes: global terrorism, illegal immigration and human trafficking, organized drug and arms trafficking, group crime or urban tribes, cybercrime and attacks on computer systems, fraud and crimes against intellectual property, child pornography and financial crime. At the same time, the methods by which it operates have also diversified. Its structures are more flexible and show greater mobility, increasing the impact it has on society. In this regard, the Europol Report 2011 draws attention to “itinerant organized crime groups“, which act with a high degree of flexibility and mobility. These delinquents, primarily dedicated to property crime and fraud, focus on activities such as robberies (armed robberies); residential, business and careless burglaries; shoplifting and organized pickpocketing; thefts of metal and other merchandise; physical attacks on cash transports and ATMs; thefts of heavy machinery at construction sites; theft of luxury cars and trucks.

The 2011 report warns that “the activities of organized crime networks are more complex, diverse and international than ever before. Terrorists are increasingly inspired by events occurring far from their place of origin and conspire on a cross-border scale to prepare their attacks. Internet-facilitated organized delinquency will continue to grow, paralleling the generalization of broadband networks and mobile devices, with the consequent emergence of delinquents and victims in regions of the world where Internet access was limited in the past. Despite the efforts of local and national police services across the EU, successes are not achieved in isolation. A multilateral approach is indispensable.”

In March 2017, Europol published the SOCTA 2017 (Serious and Organized Crime Threat Assessment) document, which analyzes the threat posed by serious criminality and organized delinquency to the EU. In this analysis, the following data stand out:

• The existence of more than 5,000 Organized Crime Groups (OCGs) with a composition of more than 180 different nationalities.
• The increase of poly-criminal groups, organized crime groups that are involved in more than one criminal activity.
• The growing operational complexity and technological adaptation of these groups with increasingly flexible structures and high geographic mobility.
• More than 75% of organized crime groups are dedicated to the production, trafficking and distribution of drugs, making this the criminal activity in which most organizations are involved.Other activities in which the organizations are mostly dedicated to are crimes against private property, migrant trafficking, human trafficking (for forced labor, sexual exploitation and child trafficking) and tax fraud.
• The infiltration of members of organized crime groups in the public and private sectors; to obtain information and facilitate criminal activities by means of corruption, has become a common practice.
• In the area of cybersecurity, the capture of assets through the use of encryption results in a significant threat to the EU, situating as an objective not only its citizens but increasingly organizations in the public and private sector.
• Document forgery has emerged as a key to the criminal activity linked to the migratory crisis.
• The electronic commerce of illicit products and money laundering have become the driving force behind these criminal groups.

Based on the results obtained and the conclusions of SOCTA 2017, the Justice Council and the Ministers of the Interior of the European Union establish the lines of investigation and the prioritized actions to fight against organized crime in the face of the second EU Policy Cycle (2018-2022), a plan to ensure an effective cooperation between the actors involved in the fight against organized crime in the different countries of the European Union and a directed action towards the main threats affecting the Union.

3._Security strategies

The Security Strategies are programmatic documents on policies and mechanisms of crisis management, which integrate the response of the States before the problems that affect the security, welfare and future of societies. The responses are established at various levels: local, national, European and international, and involve both public administrations as well as the private sector. Apart from the differences that may exist between them in terms of the peculiarities of each State, all the strategies are centered on the context of international security, the potential risks, the objectives to be achieved, the instruments available and the way in which they await to protect national security. Since the configuration and adoption of the first Security Strategies, in all of them there has been a constant reference to the necessity of integrating all levels and actors related with security, integration that needs to be completed within the local sphere where, despite the efforts of local administrations, the greatly alluded to integration has not materialized. 

In line with the development of the new concept of security and taking into consideration the alluded to integration of all the actors of security, an approach is necessary to integrate at the local sphere, the local structures that are in narrow and constant relation with their addressees, the people.

In this sense, the EU Global Strategy (EUGS), presented before the European Council in June 2016 with the title “A Common Vision, Acting Together: a Stronger Europe”, makes reference to the need that the EU should perform a leading role as a global provider of security, stating that:

“Only by acting in a jointly and united manner will we be able to attend to the needs of our citizens and make our association work.  This is precisely the objective of the global strategy for foreign policy and European security…Global should not be understood only in the geographical sense: it also makes reference to the broad spectrum of policies and instruments that promote the strategy, which centers as much on military and anti-terrorist capabilities as on employment opportunities, inclusive societies and the protection of human rights…” (EUGS, 2016: 2-3).

“The EU will promote a global order based on norms. It is convenient for us to promote concerted norms for the supply of global public goods and to contribute to a peaceful and sustainable world. The EU will foster a norms-based world order, with multilateralism as an essential principle and the United Nations at its core.” ( EUGS, 2016: 31).

“An integrated Union. We have to be more integrated in all internal and external policies…. In a question of security, terrorism, hybrid threats and organized delinquency no frontiers are known to us.This requires tighter institutional links between our external action and the internal space of freedom, security and justice… The efforts of member States also need to be more integrated: cooperation has to be strengthened between our police, judiciary and intelligence services.” (EUGS, 2016: 39-40).

In the same sense, the Spanish Security Strategy manifests (SSS 2011), whose first edition of June 2011, that a call was made to the implication of the different actors related to security, from the different Public Administrations to private organizations and society in general, affirming that “the boundaries between internal security and external security have been blurred.National policies in the traditional fields of security are no longer sufficient to safeguard it in the 21st century.  Only an integral focus, which conceives security in a broad and interdisciplinary manner, at a national, European and international level, can respond to the complex challenges we are facing” (p.9).

The SSS 2011 bases the security policy on a series of basic concepts, among which we highlight an integral focus on the various dimensions of security, coordination among public administrations and with society, efficiency in the use of resources, and the anticipation and prevention of threats and risks.

In harmony with the European Strategy, the document compiles the different threats and risks to the security of our country, among which are terrorism, organized crime, economic and financial insecurity, energy vulnerability, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber-attacks and uncontrolled migration flows, as well as armed conflicts and natural catastrophes.

On May 31, 2013, the Council of Ministers approved a second strategy, entitled “National Security Strategy.  A shared project” (NSS 2013), at the same time according to the creation of the National Security Council.

Both strategies propose an integral vision of security, giving rise to the participation of new public and private actors for the maintenance of security, freedom, well-being and the functioning of services to citizens. The two documents recognize the inadequacy of the existing coordinating structures and procedures to face the complexity of present-day security, adopting the decision of dependence and responsibility of the Government’s Office of the President in this task.

The NSS 2013 Executive Summary defines the concept of National Security as: “The action of the State directed to protect the liberty and well-being of its citizens, to guarantee the defense of Spain and its constitutional principles and values, and to contribute alongside our partners and allies to international security in the fulfillment of the commitments assumed”, and subsequently establish that “the National Security is a public service that is the object of a State Policy, which, under the direction and leadership of the President of the Government, is the responsibility of the Government, implicates all the Public Administrations and requires the collaboration of society as a whole” (NSS, 2013: 1).

The definition of National Security responds to an integral vision of security, just as it is understood today. Thus, the declaration of National Security as a public service that is object of a State Policy in which all Administrations have to integrate, it should suppose a significant advance in this matter, and signify something more than a declaration of principles, being configured as an authentic strategy to which all institutions are added, starting with those of national scope, but also including those of local scope.

The Council of Ministers on December 1, 2017, approved the new “National Security Strategy, a shared project of all and for all”, which replaces that from 2013, in which 15 areas of National Security are addressed: national defense, the fight against terrorism, the fight against organized crime, the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, counter-intelligence, cybersecurity, maritime security, airspace and outer space security, protection of critical infrastructure, economic and financial security, security of energy, management of migratory flows, protection before emergencies and catastrophes, security against pandemics and epidemics, and preservation of the environment.

The new Strategy makes reference to the solidity of the integral security model in matters such as the fight against terrorism, the management of migratory flows, economic recovery and the commitment to greater leadership in the process of European integration. Thus, in its presentation it is stated that “the Strategy defines a common position of all the bodies with competencies in security…. Only united and coordinated will we be able to analyze, influence and improve our security environment” (National Security Strategy, 2013: 4).

In reference to the complexity and uncertainty of the environment, it advocates for an integral and non-compartmentalized focus on security, for which the Strategy defines 5 general objectives, common to all the fields of action of National Security, to which it associates different lines of action.

Among the 5 general objectives, we would like to point out that the “developing the integral crisis management model”, where it is affirmed that the response phase to crisis situations must include appropriate participation mechanisms for the entire Public Administration and the private sector (National Security Strategy, 2013: 84).

With regard to the lines of action associated with the general objectives, there is a strong insistence on the need to promote and foster an integral and coordinated focus of the actions of the different Administrations, referring to objectives such as maritime safety, air navigation, the risks associated with illegal immigration, the implementation of the National Civil Protection System, etc.

Finally, the participation of the Local Administration authorities at the National Security Council is contemplated, when their contribution is considered necessary and, in any case, when the matters to be dealt with affect their respective competences.

Subsequently, the Government of Spain, at a session of the National Security Council held on January 21, 2019, agreed to the approval of the National Strategy against Organized Crime and Serious Delinquency, in effect for the period 2019-2023. 

This document once again emphasizes an integral vision of organized and grave organized criminality as one of its inspiring principles, and among its lines of action it proposes the full incorporation of all public security operators in the functions related with the exchange of information and the coordination of investigations in the fight against these phenomenons, as well as the implementation of mechanisms and tools that permit the transmission and integration of all the information originating from themselves.

Once again, reference is made to the need for integration of all security-related strata, an integration that has been reiterated in successive Strategies and requires taking into consideration the local perspective, making it a participant of the objectives outlined at the different levels.

It is worth recalling that the 5th chapter of the 2011 SSS already made reference to the integration of the institutional model, stating the need to adapt security structures in order to move in this direction. With respect to the subject that is of concern to us here, it is worth highlighting that the following priorities were identified in the SSS:

• Overcome the compartmentalization, duplicities and overlapping of policies and the existing institutional framework.
•      Strengthen the collaboration and cooperation of all the actors that have participated in the elaboration of the SSS (public administrations, private companies and civilian society).
• Promote the cooperation in security matters with the Autonomous Communities.

The 2013 NSS manifested itself in a similar manner, as does the current 2017 NSS, to which the current National Strategy against Organized Crime and Serious Delinquency is added.

4._Local administration and security

Local administrations play an important role in this order, as they constitute the first step in the management of public and social objectives and interests. Developing a Local Security Strategy to align and integrate the available efforts and resources has become a priority in order to achieve a fairer and more sustainable society.

According to Jiménez Asensio (2019), municipal institutions are mistreated, both by central and regional authorities as well as by autonomous, when, on the contrary, they enjoy greater confidence among the citizenry. Jiménez Asensio points out that the budget of the Spanish Local Treasury accounts for 6% of GDP, while EU countries account for 11.1%, which contradicts the arguments used in relation to decentralization in our country.

For his part, Marcet (2019) warns that the great challenges facing humanity, such as those of the Sustainable Development Goals, require public leadership. That necessitates public administrations to be reliable, solvent, attractive, dynamic and enterprising, with the objective of serving citizens and safeguarding their rights and duties.

Local Administrations have been performing multiple and diverse functions in the area of security, competencies that have been increasing in parallel with the administrative and institutional development carried out in the last decades, as they have always done so, with a strong emphasis on people, their welfare and quality of life, aspects that are fully within the idea of security as it is conceived today. 

The development carried out in the local sphere of security acquires value through the declarations and decisions of international and national organizations.Thus, the declarations on civil protection, where the principle of subsidiarity takes on special significance; the declarations regarding the need for local authorities to subscribe to the agreements of the 2030 agenda with the objective of attaining sustainable development; European declarations and programs related to safe and sustainable mobility, in a city environment where the management of this area plays an important role; arguments and debates around social protection, where local administrations play an important role in the field of prevention and immediate intervention; programs related to safety in the school environment that have given rise to new challenges in the area of preventing youth violence, school absenteeism, bullying or the onset of alcohol and drug use, to name but a few, and where local security forces perform an important role not only for their immediate action but also and fundamentally for their preventive work.

We must insist on the need to address an integrative treatment that allows overcoming the atomization present in the multitude and diversity of local police forces, for which we propose the configuration of governing bodies that materialize the treatment of the collective as a single body, making them participants in the strategies defined at different administrative and political levels, avoiding duplicities and assigning the respective responsibilities and, definitively, contributing to the response in the face of current and future challenges in the prevention and fight against new threats.

The set of local police forces existing in the more than 2,000 municipalities of our country constitutes a fundamental axis of the security system, providing a first level of security in those same towns and cities. They count with a long tradition, which already exceeds 160 years of history, which by itself justifies their existence since they have been created in the face of the necessity to provide their services in direct dependence of the local corporations to respond to the demands and needs of their neighbors.

The evolution that has occurred in the Local Police collective stands out not only in quantitative terms, but also in relation to qualitative aspects. In the years prior to the enactment of the Organic Law 2/1986, of Security Forces and Corps, of March 13 (OLSFC), some local police structures faced the situation of insecurity existing in many cities of our geography, so that the municipalities took an important step in response to the problem, increasing the endowments for their respective bodies of Municipal Police. At the same time, conferences and congresses began to be organized in the local security field to manifest the existing concern and improve the intervention of the municipal police.

Since the enactment of the OLSFC, many have been the circumstances and initiatives that have accompanied the development of the multitude and diversity of local police forces, without excluding various vicissitudes and polemics, some in relation to the immediate environment of the respective police structures and others that could be framed in the relational field with different institutions (judicial, state security forces, political, trade unions, etc.) which, in some cases, had as background the expansion of the competences of the local police. As a result of this dynamic, we highlight the following aspects:

Judicial Police. As a clear exponent of the professional interest in increasing the active participation of the local police in the field of criminal investigation, there have been multiple initiatives to assume competences in this field, leading to the configuration of units specialized in these tasks in many police structures and being the object of debate in different congresses and professional conferences. The fruition of this has been the Agreements signed between the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (SFMP) and the Ministry of the Interior, to which some city councils have adhered in order to distribute competencies related to certain types of criminal offenses and the processing of the corresponding police diligences before the judicial authority, or the Agreements signed between the Generalitat of Catalonia and the city councils with the deployment intent of the Police of the Generalitat-Mossos d’Esquadra (Police of the Generalitat-Mossos d’Esquadra).

Police Specialization. In view of the wide range of commitments faced by a group of local Police, the need arose to adapt the structures by configuring specific units for determinate areas: environment, administrative police, judicial police, gender violence, protection of minors… At the same time they organized some special units for these and other commitments (citizen security units, rapid intervention, urban delinquency, victim assistance, patrimonial protection, etc.). 

These initiatives signify and suppose a clear example of the effort undertaken by the field of local security to adapt to the ever-changing reality that is every day more exigent. We must point out that the evolution of this collective is the fruit, in many cases, of the initiative of the respective local security forces or of the responsible local politicians at the time. But, in any case, they constitute isolated initiatives carried out by some local police forces, without having meant an integration into the security system.

At a quantitative level, a notable increase has been produced in the number of members of the local police forces that comprise the more than 2,000 corps existing in our country, calculated, according to some sources, at around 70,000 members, which leads us to pose the need to overcome the existing atomization of the collective in the interest of a more efficient management, not only at an organic level of the collective, but also and fundamentally, taking into account the impact that this would have on the management of security. 

On the other hand, we must not lose sight of a series of intrinsic characteristics of the collective, which constitute an identity factor and grant added value in the management of local security:

• Functional dependence on local corporations, which implies proximity to the pulse of the city and the problems of citizens and society as a whole.
• Territorial deployment, which contributes to a knowledge of the territory and of the population, establishing bonds of relation and mutual trust between the administration and the administered.  
• Preventive action, as a consequence of the deployment in the territory and the knowledge of the existing problems.
• Resolutive action, focused on the resolution of the problems detected in the territory of its competence and as an extension of the administration and local authorities.
•   Flexibility, to adapt to new citizen demands, constituting an important potential in the order of local security.

As a guide, the following table shows some of the most significant actions carried out by a local police force, in this case the Tarragona Urban Guard, in the period between January and September of this year 2020 in relation to those carried out in the same period of the previous year, which reflects part of the contribution of local structures in the field of security.

Conclusiones

We have made reference to and insisted on the necessity of implicating local security, the contributions of the local police collective, in the general security policy, since security knows no frontiers. The reality described in the previous pages makes necessary an integral management of the security strategies adopted by the different administrative and political levels, avoiding duplicities and assigning the respective responsibilities.

The characteristics of the service provided by the local police, due to its character of proximity, allow an immediate response before certain events that require the intervention of the public authorities and, in turn, are of great utility to collaborate, facilitate and detect indications, facts, situations or persons that may give rise to the initiation or follow-up of subsequent investigations. This anticipatory work developed by the local police is centered on the detection of persons linked to organized crime and international terrorism, determining vulnerabilities or elements that may constitute objectives of the crimes, collaborating in the knowledge of the modus operandi of the delinquents, the nature of the groups, the organization of the networks, groups or isolated individuals, the existence of recruiters, etc.

In accordance with the Spanish Security Strategy and its development in relation to Organized Crime, it is necessary to address coordination and cooperation through organic measures such as the creation of centers or commissions of coordination. However, it is worth warning that a declaration of principles is not sufficient instead of being taken into account at the highest organizational levels, but rather a true organizational culture must be instilled around collaboration and coordination in security matters, overcoming corporativism and the spirit of belonging to a determinate organization or police force. 

One of the initiatives carried out in this sense is constituted by the configuration of the Public Security System in the scope of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia where, with the approval of Law 4/2003, of the Parliament of Catalonia, an attempt is made to establish a Security System in which the local sphere is integrated and a series of instruments are adopted that can serve as a reference in the matter: the Security Plan of Catalonia and the Local Security Plans. The final objective of Law 4/2003 is the assurance of the rights and freedoms of citizens, the preservation of coexistence and the fomentation of social cohesion. To this end, the design of the security system of Catalonia is inspired by a series of basic principles of organization and action of the multiple operators (administrations, authorities, bodies, corps, services…) that develop competences in the field of security. Thus, Article 2 of the Law explicitly establishes the following principles:

• Prevention of risks and threats.
• Adequacy of security services to social demand.
  

Table 1. Tarragona City Guard actions (January-September 2020/2019)

Room Requirements	2020	2019	%
Total calls	56,766	52,276	8.59%
Requirements in the field of assistance and security	5,249	6,543	-19.78%
Requirements traffic	603	910	-33.74%

Occupation of public roads	2020	2019	%
Occupation of public roads for a period of up to 48 hours: construction work, cleaning operations, relocation, special transport, activities on public roads ( sporting, holiday or cultural events organized by various entities).	11,936	21,669	-6.76%

Traffic and Road Safety	2020	2019	%
Traffic violations	11,936	21,669	-44.92%
Vehicles towed	1,581	2,228	-29.04%
Blood Alcohol Level and Drugs	2020	2019	%
Tests	916	3,217	-71.53%
Complaints	153	318	-51.89%
Velocity	2020	2019	%
Controlled Vehicles	18,470	51,990	-64.47%
Complaints	1,034	2,682	-61.45%
Accident Rates	2020	2019	%
Total accidents	550	783	-29.76%
Material Damage (72%)	397	566	-29.86%
Injured (25%)	137	198	-30.81%
Gravely injured (3%)	16	19	-15.79%
Deaths (0%)	0	0	0
People hit by vehicles	1,566	45	-31,11%

Infractions to municipal ordinances	2020	2019	%
Possession/consumption of narcotics on public ways	418	554	-24.55%
Possession of sharp weapons, prohibited items	87	117	-25.64%
Alcohol consumption on public ways	156	105	48.57%
Disturbing the peace	150	192	-21.88%
Entertainment regulations	30	41	-26.83%
Other infractions of  municipal ordinances	725	700	3.57%
Total	1,566	1,709	-8.3%

Inspections and follow-ups	2020	2019	%
Inspections of establishments and activities	219	243	-9.88%
Mediation files	114	112	1.79%

Criminal Proceedings	Total	2019	%
Crimes	1,376	2,204	-37.57%
Against the patrimony	923	1,578	-41.51%
Against road safety	213	257	-17.12%
Judicial Orders	54	69	-21.74%
Administrative offenses	1,406	13	10715%
Other	375	518	-27.61%

Source: Tarragona Urban Guard

 

• Proximity to citizens and decentralization of public services.
• Efficacy of public action and efficiency in the assignment of resources and means.
• Planning and evaluation of actions.
• Proportionality of public intervention.
• Co-responsibility and complementarity of authorities and administrations.
• Coordination and cooperation between authorities, administrations and services.
• Transparency and information to citizens.

The security system in Catalonia is made up of the security authorities, the police forces and other public or private security services, and the bodies for coordination and participation in security matters. At the municipal level, the local authorities and administrations – the mayors and the town councils – have a leading role to play through their participation in the design and follow-up of local security policies and in the execution of their own competences in this field, either through the different municipal services or by means of the local police.

The security system configured by the law awards a special role of relevance to the local security boards, which, under the sole preside of the mayor, becomes a key element of the security system as a necessary reference for the elaboration, planification and execution of public security policies at the local level.

Finally, the law establishes a methodological instrument to contribute to the efficiency and functionality of the system: the General Security Plan, which should contain a catalog of the provisions, actions and means available in relation to everything that may affect the coexistence and security of the people and goods.  This General Security Plan has to serve as an obligatory reference for the elaboration of local, sectorial, seasonal and specific security plans. 

The initiative of the Generalitat constitutes an impulse for the configuration of a security system in which it tries to integrate the different actors related to security but, after more than 15 years since the promulgation of this law, there is a broad demand in the professional collectives to undertake a revision and extension of the accorded configuration, which allows the articulation and an integral and efficient management of the more than 200 local police forces existing in the territory of Catalonia.

We will end by reiterating what we have said on previous occasions, insisting on the necessity of passing from words to deeds and to adopt the decision to integrate the multiple and diverse collectives of local police into a Security Strategy that allows their structuring in the global field of security, configuring for this purpose the appropriate directive bodies, both at the autonomous level as well as at the level of the rest of the administrations.

The initiative of the Ministry of the Interior configuring an Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime, where are concentrated all the efforts and operability of different security forces in the fight against international terrorism and organized crime, can serve as a reference for the configuration of appropriate structures at the different administrative levels, that allow the different police forces to integrate into them, surpassing corporatism and making possible a global treatment, integrative, in the management of public security.

The configuration of Directive Units, made up of members of the different police forces of each territorial scope, would allow the treatment and joint work of many of the issues managed by each police force:

• Sharing police information systems (databases, systems for the collection of complaints and processing of proceedings, etc.).
• Human resources management, favoring professional careers through vertical and horizontal inter-corporate mobility, thus overcoming stagnation in limited structures. 
• Unification of selection and formative processes.
• Management of material resources, which would entail significant benefits, both in relation to the volume of goods to be acquired or services to be contracted, as well as in relation to the management required for this purpose.
• Normalization and standardization of processes, procedures and systems. Security knows no borders, which means that its treatment doesn’t have any either. Police work tends to be concretized in files and documents that have to serve to identify the causes and those responsible for certain events, as well as for the processing of data relative to people and events of interest for security. The standardization of security plans, establishing guidelines and procedures, is justified by itself in order to establish security levels in the different administrative fields.
• Police deontology. We cannot leave aside an aspect closely linked to organizations with a notable human factor, as in the case of local police forces, where some highly complex aspects currently fall under the competence of the authorities and local officials, and it is necessary to provide support for their management from more distant instances. 
• Regulatory statutory framework. Likewise, local authorities may be faced with situations of certain complexity in the establishment of the working conditions of functionaries, and it is advisable the configuration of a regulatory framework that establishes the specific conditions subject to the collective, avoiding less than desirable conflictive situations or, in the best of cases, certain grievances in function with the police force at hand.
• Disaffection. We must make reference to some susceptible practices to be reproduced at municipal scope where, under an apparent modernization or change of management style, other practices are concealed that have more relation with the displacement of certain police officials, granting the respective responsibilities to like-minded people, with no other real motivation than personal relations with the local authorities and without offering alternatives that favor the professional development of those affected. Management from more distant instances than those that may occur within the framework of personal relationships can avoid these unprofessional practices or, in the best of cases, favor the opportune alternation in the positions of responsibility.

The configuration of Directive Structures for treatment and joint work will favor and enable mobility and organizational growth, while at the same time will allow the accession of the common objectives of the security policy with the greatest efficiency.

The conjunction of the Objectives for Sustainable Development, framed in the 2030 Agenda, and the rulings reiterated in the subsequent Strategies in the face of the new challenges in matters of security, pose an opportunity to tackle a new order in this matter and requires that it be carried out with the broadest and most ambitious focus possible, where innovation must not pose an inconvenience but, on the contrary, a contribution.

We conclude with a final reference, contained in the European Security Strategy of 2003 and reiterated previously in this same forum, which reinforces and serves as a reflection on our approach: “We live in a world with prospects for the future that are brighter than ever, but which also presents greater threats.  The future will depend in part on our actions.  We need to think on a global scale and act on a local scale” ( European Council, 2003: 6)