Time for medals in the Police, time for anger: "It is unfair and demoralizing"

Andrés – fictitious name – is an agent of the National Police and last year he was one of the pillars of an investigation that allowed the dismantling of an important criminal organization that was wreaking havoc with its robberies.. A case with international ramifications in which various foreign agencies participated and which resulted in 29 detainees. Andrés was proposed for a medal in recognition for this work, but days ago he found out that it would not be awarded to him.. No explanations, no motivations. He simply saw his name on a list of police officers who, due to unclear circumstances, were deprived of recognition for which they met all the requirements.. A situation that affects more agents and that, in addition to generating great discomfort in the staff of the aforementioned body, the controversies surrounding these decorations are once again emerging..

“It's incomprehensible. And the worst thing is that no one tells you why. “They withdraw my proposal, but they maintain that of a colleague from another province who participated in the case,” says the aforementioned agent, stationed in Malaga, a province on which the Spanish Confederation of Police (CEP) has focused its attention to denounce a practice that generates discomfort in the workforce.

A spokesperson for this organization specified that six of those affected were going to be recognized for their careers; and the other two, for their participation in specific police actions. “All the proposals met the required requirements. But the national leadership of the body, without arguments, has said: 'Take eight off the list'.

The aforementioned agent points out that it was an “incomprehensible” decision that “demotivates and demoralizes”. “There were many months of work. The proposal passes the filters of the Provincial Police Station of Malaga and, three weeks before delivery, they tell you that you are out. And without the possibility of recourse,” he laments..

Shameful is the decision of higher authorities of the @info_dgp or @interiorgob to exclude as of 09/01/23 from the list of the ORDER OF POLICE MERIT🎖️ eight 👮🏻👮🏻‍♀️ @cep_cepolicia we request, leave this arbitrary decision void
@opiniondemalaga@eldiariosur@malagahoy_es pic.twitter.com/DvIOhMTi5l

— CEP Policia Malaga (@Cepoliciamalaga) September 4, 2023

“The medal thing has become a joke,” summarizes this police officer, something that they essentially share in the CEP. “Do you know how many medals were awarded last year to people outside the force? 523 throughout the country,” they point out from the union organization, which details that among the winners are “politicians, actors, journalists, company managers, bank directors…”.

Another member of the corps says that he, personally, does not mind these symbolic decorations, but he does mind those that are not awarded despite having earned merits.. Above all, because they can be decisive when it comes to a transfer competition or access to a position..

At the patron saint's festivities that police stations across the country will celebrate in the coming days, 611 of these medals will be distributed.. “A shame”. “We understand that judges and prosecutors are recognized, who work hand in hand with us, but a medal for police work should be awarded to an agent who spends all day breaking his chest in the street, not to an actress because she has made a police series,” says the union. For these people, they have proposed that a “decoration for citizen merit” be created, but “never with the same valuation, the same name and the same badge as those given to colleagues.”.

The unrest among the staff is increasing because the medals that were going to be awarded to them are white and they are not pensioned. What expenses do they have? Well, beyond the “approximately 12 euros they cost”, the payments that the Administration has to face for the judicial actions that the agents undertake so that their merits are assessed. This is the case of the 1,500 euros in costs that must be paid for the resolution of the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) that rules in favor of two agents from the Ronda police station who saved the life of a women and those who, instead of a white medal, were given congratulations.

Complaints and judicial resolutions

This is not the first time that the courts have had to intervene in the decorations of National Police officers.. The National Court annulled the decision of the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to award three retired commissioners with the highest distinction – the red medal, which entails financial remuneration.. A court made up of four judges warned the minister that he does not have “carte blanche” to grant these recognitions.

“I don't know if it's for political reasons.. But I am clear that it is unfair,” say the sources consulted about the eight Malaga agents affected, before regretting that a sense of discretion is transmitted that is above merits.. A situation of which, as they pointed out, is an example of the recognition of the former director of the Civil Guard María Gámez, who signed the dismissal of Colonel Diego Pérez de los Cobos who ended up overthrowing Justice.

MEDALS FOR THOSE WHO DESERVE THEM!!

After several written submissions where they did not provide us with the required documentation, we reported the facts to the Police Council.

We await a response to continue…

Medals for those who deserve them we only ask for objectivity and transparency pic.twitter.com/n8g4SzjYOc

— SUP Baleares (@SUPBaleares) August 28, 2023

Protests over the awarding of the medals spread to different provinces. Valencia is one of them, where a plan to celebrate the patron saint has been announced; while the Unified Police Union (SUP) in the Balearic Islands has raised its voice by leaving out of recognition a group of Manacor agents who participated in an important international investigation. “The medals, for those who deserve them. We only ask for objectivity and transparency,” they complained, before announcing that they would go to the Police Council to request information..