Increased Metro Vigilance
The Barcelona metro network has become a scenario of intense police activity, with a significant increase in operations by various security forces. The collaboration between the National Police, the Mossos d’Esquadra and the Guàrdia Urbana, as well as with private security teams of Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, has been a constant. These actions respond to the implementation of the Daga Plan, a project designed to control the use of white weapons in public spaces.
Coordinated operations and unexpected results
On February 16, a large operation took place in the city, with a duration of ten hours and the participation of multiple police units. Despite the declared goal of combating the possession of white weapons, the arrests made were mostly by other offenses, with a total of 33 arrests, many of which are related to the lack of documentation. Interestingly, the thousands of identified individuals did not result in the confiscation of weapons, highlighting a possible mismatch between the objective of the plan and its results.
History of police repression
This is not the first time that Barcelona has witnessed such operations. Previously, the Tremall plan had been implemented with the intention of improving the detection of repeat criminals and increasing the perception of security. A report from the Mèdia.cat 2020 Yearbook revealed that most of the identifications made during this plan fell on foreign people, highlighting the worrying trends in public security policy.
Demonstrations and police presence
As part of the demonstrations of March 8, the police response was radically different from March 7 to 8. While a deterrent operation was deployed last night, the focus seemed to be the protection of protesters, but rather the maintenance of public order and the defense of the city’s economic interests. This strategy is reflected in similarity to the operations intended to control migration, especially in relation to racialized communities.
Infiltration in social movements
Recently, a new case of police infiltration in social groups in Barcelona has been uncovered, including support movements in Palestine and independence groups. These actions have been reported as an attempt to control and monitor dissidents, instead of fostering a dialogue or a constructive relationship.
The intersection between feminism and criminal justice
The relationship between police and criminal law is presented as a complex subject, especially in the context of current feminist debates. Authors such as Tamar Pitch have emphasized how violence against women can be instrumentalized for justifying security policies that, instead of addressing the deep causes of the problem, perpetuate a broader system of oppression.
Critics of criminal justice
Anti -racist feminist literature has called into question the police and the judicial system to provide justice. Figures such as Juliana Borges and Angela Davis have emphasized how the criminal system maintains racial inequalities and how their ideological function is released from the responsibility of facing social injustices.
Rethinking necessary of feminism
Against this backdrop, a crucial question arises: why would women and dissenting communities be trusting their defense to institutions that often perpetuate violence and oppression? There is an urgent need to rethink feminist projects, connecting them with the struggles against racism and capitalism, in order to build a real response to the inequalities around us.
