All local police officers in the Basque Country must now patrol with a firearm.
The new Basque regulations require these agents to carry a pistol with a minimum capacity for 13 9 millimeter
parabellum
caliber bullets .
The measure affects the slightly more than 3,000 municipal police officers of this autonomous community, of which some 2,600 are already armed when on duty.
The exception is a minority and occurs mainly in municipalities with very few inhabitants, according to the Department of Security.
The Basque Government approved this Tuesday, March 5, the “decree regulating weapons and other technical means and defense and equipment of local police forces” that extends the obligation to carry weapons to all 82 local police forces.
Municipalities must provide their entire police force with a firearm, the case and ammunition, as well as other technical and defensive means, such as a bulletproof vest, shackles, rigid or extendable batons, a whistle and cut-resistant gloves.
Patrol cars must be equipped, at a minimum, with a fireproof blanket and gloves, a thermal blanket, fire extinguisher, flashlights, cones, marker tape, first aid kit, and gloves and masks.
It is about, in the words of counselor Josu Erkoreka, "moving towards a certain homogenization in the provision of resources to the different local police forces with the aim of improving the coordination and effectiveness of police action."
Euskadi wants to end the police without guns.
The new regulation that requires arming all municipal agents is part of the mandate included in the reform of the Police law of the Basque Country, approved in 2019 with the votes of all political groups in the autonomous Parliament, except EH Bildu and Elkarrekin Podemos.
Four out of every five local police officers are currently equipped with a firearm in the Basque Country.
Erkoreka has reported that approximately 2,600 armed agents patrol, while “those who do not do so do not reach 500.”
In a total of 42 municipalities it is already mandatory, compared to another 40 municipalities that do not yet require it, mainly in areas with a small population.
However, the head of Security has highlighted that these figures are changing, since regional, state and European regulations, as well as jurisprudence, establish "in a patent and clear manner" in the direction of establishing the mandatory nature of pistols in local police forces.
“It is something that has already been internalized by all city councils of all political stripes,” he assured.
The town councils governed by EH Bildu are the ones that have been most reticent about this measure, although recently mayors of this formation in towns such as Tolosa or Bergara, both from Gipuzkoa and governed by the
nationalist
formation , have already taken the step of arming their police personnel.
“The model by which the Basque police is governed follows principles and a style of action that basically obey the canons of the European democratic police forces,” according to the counselor of the branch, who explained that the town councils that are calling for new positions demand aspiring local police officers to sign a statement in which they agree to carry a firearm and use it if necessary.
The use of firearms, as with the rest of the police forces, will be governed by the principles of “appropriateness, necessity and proportionality.”
They may only be used when there is “a rationally serious risk” to the life and safety of the agent and when there is “a serious risk to public safety.”
The decree stipulates that using the pistol in the act of duty is “an extreme measure.”
In “no case” is it permitted to use it to intimidate “by shooting in the air.”
Mayors will have the ability to allow officers to perform certain services without being armed.
It is an exception included in the law that can only be adopted when “there is no serious risk to the life or physical integrity” of the agent or third parties.
And in any case, this decision must be justified by the councilor with a prior report from the police headquarters.
Municipalities will have one year to apply this decree, although in those with less than 5,000 inhabitants the moratorium is extended to five years.
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