Catalonia launches a pilot test to have plainclothes mossos in schools and institutes

BarcelonaCatalonia will test a new strategy to address coexistence problems in some schools and institutes: Mossos d'Esquadra officers will be deployed undercover in various educational centers. The move is part of a pilot plan that will be activated in 13 centers to test a new collaboration model between the departments of Education and Interior, as reported by El País and confirmed by ARA.

For the moment, a police officer will be introduced into the staff of schools and institutes in the educational areas of L'Hospitalet, Vic, L'Alta Ribagorça-Vall d'Aran, and Tàrrega; and also in two centers in El Prat de Llobregat and Sabadell. Sources from the Department of Education detail that the project "stems from the increase in complexity in the educational environment and the need to reinforce the well-being of students and the entire educational community," and assure that this is "a strongly demanded request from the teaching world".

The plan foresees that an unarmed plainclothes officer will have a stable presence in the center and will carry out prevention, accompaniment, and intervention tasks "to guarantee school coexistence". "It is a pilot project that aims to promote the figure of integrated officers as points of reference in educational centers," they defend from the Department of Education.

Other regions already apply it

Although in Catalonia this new coexistence plan is still in its initial phase, similar measures have already been implemented in other territories. In the State, up to nine autonomous communities have projects of this type underway, including Galicia, Navarra, Andalusia, Madrid, and the Balearic Islands. Furthermore, the Generalitat emphasizes that, according to the OECD, one out of every two developed countries has similar collaboration programs between schools and law enforcement agencies "for preventive and community purposes".

In Catalonia, the presentation of the plan in the educational centers that will implement it was completed on April 21st. Additionally, in recent days, the project has already been explained to the family associations of the involved centers.