Catalonia police force takes over.

09 Nov, 2005

After two years of preparation for the changeover, Los Mossos dEsquadra the Catalonian regional police force - has taken over the responsibility for policing Barcelona from its national police colleagues. The change has involved an expenditure of more than 15 million, covering the ten new police stations, 2,616 officers and 538 vehicles required. Over the last 12 months 700 regional police officers have been patrolling the streets of the city alongside their national police counterparts, and the files of more than 8,000 known criminals have been transferred from the national police databases. The new Barcelona police force will have 70-80 patrol cars operational on the city streets at any given time, allowing it to respond to crime incidents in 8 minutes or less. 20 new police chiefs have been appointed, only two of whom are women.