· The government delegate in Cantabria has met with members of the national REDO team who have visited the community to collaborate in awareness-raising events
The government delegate in Cantabria, Pedro Casares, has praised the “pioneering and reference” work of the Civil Guard Hate Crime Response Teams (REDO) in the fight against this “criminal phenomenon” that requires both “preventive and operational” specific actions.
Casares, accompanied by the head of the Civil Guard in Cantabria, Lieutenant Colonel Julio Postigo, has held a meeting with members of the national team on the occasion of his visit to the autonomous community to collaborate in acts of awareness on hate crimes.
The representative of the State stressed that in Cantabria, as in the rest of the country’s commanders, there is a REDO Team, attached to the Information Service.
“In Spain there are 54 territorial teams and a national team operating and all of them form a pioneering structure capable of providing a rapid response to hate behavior, as well as to facilitate their investigation,” said the delegate.
Casares has detailed that these teams, including that of Cantabria, were created within the framework of the ‘Plan of action of the Civil Guard against hate crimes and behaviors that violate the legal norms on discrimination’, approved in 2022.
These REDO teams, as explained by Casares, complement the other units of the Civil Guard in the action against hate crimes based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender or disability, especially in those cases that require it for their greater complexity. They also contribute to awareness raising and internal training and regularly monitor the impact of this criminal typology.
The government delegate has stressed the importance of combating hate speech in all areas and, at this time, with “special attention to the new forms of communication offered by the Internet and social networks, where police forces are making a special effort to prevent and prosecute.”
He has also praised the role of the State Security Forces and Corps in “protecting the weakest, those who suffer hatred or any kind of discrimination,” and has advocated for “enhancing the preventive and operational actions necessary to prevent harassment and criminal offenses suffered by these groups.”