“We have been in this building for ten years and they have never entered& rdquor ;, they explain from the direction of the Pompeu Fabra school in the Santa Eulàlia neighborhood of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelonès), which in the last two months has suffered two thefts of computer equipment and another of electrical wiring.
Different sources from the city’s educational community explain that, since the beginning of the school year, thefts and acts of vandalism in schools have grown. “Emotionally, you feel a little unprotected. Every time I get a call first thing in the morning I think it’s because they’ve come back in or done something”, they say from the Pompeu Fabra management.
“We have never had this problem of repeated thefts”, aim Christian Gilpresident of the Family Association (AFA) of the Paco Candel school and member of the III District Council of L’Hospitalet. “Since September of last year they have entered a dozen city centers,” says Gil, who comments that the entrances do not always mean theft, since sometimes it is more acts of vandalism.
The Paco Candel Schoolalso located in the Santa Eulàlia neighbourhood, has suffered two other robberies in the last few months. In the first, they broke down the doors of the office and took the computers. In a second, the air conditioners were stolen.
The Paco Candel has been in barracks for more than twelve years and the outside of the modules is where the air conditioners are located that allow the warehouses to be heated both in winter and in summer. “With the arrival of the coldfrom the school they saw that the heating system was not working. The technicianwhen going to check the air conditioners, discovered that they had been stolen& rdquor ;, says Cristian Gil.
This morning they stole the cablejat electric de l’@epompeufabra. Ara mateix, no light or heating.
From September, to #District III:
-3 @epompeufabra
-2 #PratdelaManta
-2 @escpacocandel
-3 @escolafmistralThe situation is unsustainable.
We demand urgent measures, @LHEDUCACIO pic.twitter.com/rDblUcIWEM— Association of Veïnes i Veïns Som Santa Eulàlia (@AVVSomSEulalia) February 9, 2023
In statements to this newspaper, the Councilor for Education of the L’Hospitalet City Council, david quiroscomments that they work to “be able reinforce security without becoming invasivebut in a way that helps families to be calm & rdquor ;.
Improve alarms and surveillance
Quirós points out that from the consistory and the different police forces –Urban Guard and Mossos– They are monitoring the situation and that the most immediate measures go through “strengthen surveillance of school environments& rdquor ;, they are only from the schools themselves, but from junkyards and thrift stores where thieves may attempt to place the item, and “strengthen school alarm systems”.
“There is many schools with outdated alarms or that they record but then the images cannot be recovered& rdquor ;, explain sources from the Mossos d’Esquadra, who add that the problem is not unique to L’Hospitalet, but that these robberies also occur in other municipalities in the metropolitan area, especially since students have more computers or electronic whiteboards that, normally, the centers themselves keep.
For example, in Mataró, The City Council of the capital of Maresme already installed reinforced doors and bars in the city’s educational centers in 2021. An action that was carried out after a year in which several assaults were recorded in local schools.
From the direction of the Pompeu Fabra school they explain that in the first robbery, at the end of December, the thieves removed some fuses and allowed the alarms to deplete so that they could later steal the computer equipment without worrying about notifying the police. Just a few days later they entered them again and caused more damage and stole other materials such as “basketballs or tool boxes & rdquor ;. Thus, from the direction they explain that, almost two months after the robberythey are still “waiting for the insurer& rdquor; so that they replace the material and that just this Monday, February 13, they have started to repair the doors that they smashed in december.
Thus, regarding the theft of electrical wiring that took place on the night between Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 February, from the school, where they are studying about 250 students, they point out that he left them without light or heating for a day and that the dining room service was for a picnic. In this case, they comment that they have already reinforced the box and wiring, already replaced, to prevent future thefts.
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“In the end, the damage they do is greater than the benefit they get& rdquor ;, says Cristian Gil, who has a daughter at the Paco Candel school and explains that when one bursts or creates some kind of damage, the children pass by it every day and that causes them to “an emotional impact”. In addition, Gil says that since the robberies and acts of vandalism “are repetitive & rdquor; they generate “a feeling of vulnerability that we had not had before & rdquor;.
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