For the third consecutive year, the Prosecutor's Office of the Community of Madrid highlights in its annual report the increase in crimes committed by minors. So much so, that the agency has had to expand the team to cope with the increase in work in this area. In 2022, 34 minors were accused of participating in a homicide, while the previous year there were 23 – 47% more. For the superior prosecutor, Almudena Lastra, this data is "extremely worrying", as she said this Thursday at the opening of the judicial year in Madrid. In 2017, eight were charged with the same crime.
The Public Ministry also highlights that 157 sexual assaults were registered, compared to 86 in the previous year, representing an increase of 82.56%. "It is essential to adopt measures, especially educational, that provide minors with the knowledge and tools that allow them to properly manage their relationships and sexual development. The intervention must be early and multidisciplinary, thus preventing those from naturalizing violence," reads the report.
To interpret the data with the facts, 2022 was a year of explosion of violence of youth gangs, whose activity led to six murders, two of them of two 15-year-old boys. In 2023, the fatal results of their brawls have been markedly reduced and there has been only one homicide to date, committed in the district of Tetuán in March. However, more than the annual data, the prosecution analyzes the trend and therefore calls for solutions outside the criminal field, precisely to prevent these minors from ending up in front of a judge.
The prosecution also highlights that many of these defendants had previous police reports, especially those in the age range between 16 and 18. For this reason, prosecutors call for "comprehensive and multidisciplinary" action. This call for attention is in line with the one made two weeks ago by the State Attorney General's Office, which also referred to the naturalization of violence by young people.
But this increase in aggressiveness at an early age is perceived in other areas, such as gender violence. The prosecution has detected a "significant increase" in cases of abuse in extremely young couples. "A total of 959 cases of mutual aggression have been registered in the guard service, which is equivalent to 11.5% of the proceedings initiated," reads the report. This percentage is framed within a scenario in which the procedures opened for gender violence have increased considerably, especially in the capital, where 31,229 have been initiated compared to 17,563 the previous year.
Statistical data also show an increase in domestic abuse, especially in cases of children who assault their parents, known as upward abuse. In 2022, 1,152 procedures were initiated for these aggressions, when in 2021 there were 706, that is, there has been a growth of 63%. "This should make us reflect on the educational model," insisted Almudena Lastra.
Other offences
Beyond the field of juvenile justice, the report offers a portrait of delinquency in the Community of Madrid. One of the most worrying to the prosecution is road safety, an area in which proceedings have grown by 45% over the previous year. The crime that has increased the most is that of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, which has gone from 1,930 cases to 3,061, an increase of 58.60%. In this section, prosecutors make special reference to the so-called personal mobility vehicles (MVP), especially scooters, which for some years have emerged as a sustainable alternative to urban mobility, although their fit in road safety still raises doubts. These vehicles have gone so far as to cause fatal accidents.
"There are in 2022 various interventions of the Municipal Police in relation to the VMP. These include intervention in 97 claims resulting in damage, 496 claims resulting in minor injuries and 24 resulting in serious injuries," reads the document. The report highlights that most of the procedures initiated correspond to the irregularity in the driving of scooters that have a power and speed equivalent to mopeds, without being registered as such. It points out that they are sold to the consumer without informing him of these characteristics, but this is not always the case: "In many cases it is the users themselves who fail to comply with or do not respect the rules for the correct use of these vehicles, mainly driving on the sidewalk with the consequent risk for pedestrians. "
The report also detects an increase in crimes against public health (drug trafficking). In 2022, 3,050 proceedings were initiated in this area, 15% more than the previous year. According to the Public Ministry, the bulk of these matters is due to the "continuous dismantling of hashish and marijuana plantations, which have spread throughout much of the Community of Madrid, under roofs and, in some cases, in underground places." The document states that Spain has become one of the main producers of this drug. "This increase, without a doubt, is related to the great economic benefit that those investigated obtain from the crops, together with the scarce penalty provided for this type of substance," prosecutors say.
Another of the conflicting points that they point out in the memory is the Cañada Real, usual scene of police operations and dismantling of points of sale. The anti-drug prosecutors mention in particular the Barro operation of the Civil Guard, and the Pipa operation of the National Police, carried out in various sectors of the area, with 44 detainees and 22 searches carried out and "where the illegal consumption of electricity by those investigated, in a single day, was equivalent to that carried out by the entire La Gavia Shopping Center."
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