Police on the Go-Slo
The only reason this is news worthy is because it involves a de facto strike by part of the nation’s police service, and that can only mean a little bit of a slide towards anarchy. The Guardia have had their salaries cut by 5% as part of Spain’s austerity program. At the same time drivers have been warned that our behaviour on the road is being closely monitored and that we will likely be fined for things that we got away with before. This is because town halls are suffering with cash shortages.
However, the police feel hard done by in the loss of part of their salary. On top of that they are being asked to work harder to bring in money from any source that they can, and they have decided they are not having it.
To see the political head of their department castigating the officers for not writing tickets is a little disturbing, and a little sad. I suppose that as a driver I feel somewhat relieved not to be under such intense vigilance from the standpoint that someone is just waiting for me with his pen poised, but I hope it doesn’t lead to people relaxing their sense of responsibility.
Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael
The only reason this is news worthy is because it involves a de facto strike by part of the nation’s police service, and that can only mean a little bit of a slide towards anarchy. The Guardia have had their salaries cut by 5% as part of Spain’s austerity program. At the same time drivers have been warned that our behaviour on the road is being closely monitored and that we will likely be fined for things that we got away with before. This is because town halls are suffering with cash shortages.
However, the police feel hard done by in the loss of part of their salary. On top of that they are being asked to work harder to bring in money from any source that they can, and they have decided they are not having it.
To see the political head of their department castigating the officers for not writing tickets is a little disturbing, and a little sad. I suppose that as a driver I feel somewhat relieved not to be under such intense vigilance from the standpoint that someone is just waiting for me with his pen poised, but I hope it doesn’t lead to people relaxing their sense of responsibility.
Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael
