Virginia Barcones highlights that the crime rate in Soria is ten points below the national average

• During her speech she stressed the importance of combating crimes related to new technologies since, of the 3,400 known criminal offenses in 2022 in the province, almost 1,000 were related to computer scams • She has also emphasized the effort that the Civil Guard makes to enforce the law and has given as an example the Arroba teams, the recent creation of tax units to combat smuggling and fraud, the Viogen teams against gender violence and the REDO, Response against Hate Crimes • The delegate of the Government has highlighted the vocation of public servant and the proximity with the citizenship of the new Lieutenant.

June 06, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, presided today in Soria over the events of the 179 anniversary of the founding of the Civil Guard. During his speech, he stressed that the crime rate in the province is ten points below the average. However, it has stressed the importance of combating new forms of crime such as those related to new technologies.

The government delegate attended the event that took place at the Soria Command. During his speech, he thanked the more than 500 officers of the Benemérito Corps for their work in Soria, to which 150 members of the National Police must be added. “Soria is one of the safest provinces in Spain, with a crime rate in 2022 of 38.5 criminal offenses per thousand inhabitants, more than 10 points below the national average, when Spain is one of the safest countries in the world,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of dealing with new types of crime, such as all those related to new technologies: “Cybercrime accounts for nearly one in three crimes in our province. Of the 3,400 criminal offenses known last year in Soria, nearly 1,000 were computer scams. The increase in these crimes, due to the massive use of the internet and the birth of new online shopping platforms, has been 90% compared to 2019.”

In this regard, he has expressed that the Civil Guard has changed its internal structures and has been modernized so that it is “perfectly able to face the current challenges”. An example of this is the creation of new functional structures such as the Arroba teams that are “adapted to pursue this crime of the present, but above all of the future”. “Tax units made up of a sergeant and eight civil guards have also been set up this year to prevent and prosecute all matters related to smuggling, fraud and other illegal taxes, throughout the territory of the province,” he added.

Virginia Barcones has stressed that, despite the new challenges, the Civil Guard does not forget those crimes that affect the most vulnerable groups such as elderly, minors or women victims of gender violence. “For years, the Civil Guard has had a comprehensive protection system for all of them. There are the Viogen teams against gender violence or the REDO Hate Crime Response teams, created in 2022, which pursue the expression of the worst that underlies human nature,” he said.

The Civil Guard makes an enormous effort to protect the citizenry, a job that must be reciprocated. In this regard, Virginia Barcones has stressed that the current Executive “has been concerned and occupied with dignifying” the working conditions by increasing the remuneration of agents, renovating the mobile park and improving the working and housing conditions.

Likewise, the conditions of the Civil Guard have been improved by increasing the staffing levels throughout the community: “Currently, there are 7,000 civilian guards deployed in Castilla y León. And there are 10,000 agents in our Community with whom the National Police contributes.”

Virginia Barcones has welcomed the new head of the Command, Lieutenant Colonel Sergio Peñarroya, to the province of Soria. He has highlighted his vocation as a public servant, his closeness to the citizenry and his ability to achieve collaboration between the Civil Guard and the other administrations. “I am convinced that your work will maintain and increase the trust and gratitude that our citizens already have towards the Benemeritus Corps,” she stressed.

Finally, the government delegate has had a special memory for all those civil guards who “in the fulfillment of duty, in a supreme sacrifice, gave their own lives.” She has expressed solidarity with the families for the “essential support” they provide to the agents when performing work not exempt from risk and, likewise, has recognized the collaboration provided to the other institutions to improve the work and conditions of the agents.