Most of the Civil Guard specialties have overcome the social misgivings that accompanied the Armed Institute for a long time. Their assistance in natural disasters, their participation in international missions or their work in the resolution of media crimes have increased the respect that many citizens feel towards their members. But on the road, things change ... "People think that they only put fines, but they will verify that they are doing a magnificent job of prevention and help," says Nacho Carballés , camera of one of the Road Control teams, the new program that the VEODMax channel premieres next Sunday at 9:30 p.m.
Road control follows the trail of Border Control - both produced by Crop TV - but in this case, instead of following the day-to-day life of the Civil Guard Fiscal Service, the program is set at the Traffic Group. Three teams (formed by an editor and a camera) have accompanied road patrols in three areas: Madrid , Galicia and Andalusia . "They have not given us problems and everything has been facilities so that this side of their work could be portrayed that we are not accustomed to seeing," says Raúl Barbas , editor of this program who also participated in the predecessor format.
For four months, Barbas and Carballés have built up with the Civil Guard to publicize their work, but this day also adds a team from EL MUNDO to discover how they do theirs. "In some cases we have found accidents with a fatality or injured , some with children, and it has not been easy," says the editor, who has also had to be especially alert to the danger of the road. "They have not given us specific training, but they have insisted that we could not get out of the car until we were notified and that we always had to have a reference of where the cars are coming from and a possible escape route. I was trying to get behind of my partner who went with the camera to be his eyes on his back, "he explains dressed in the reflective vest that has been his permanent uniform.
Another one of the worries with which the civil guards are accustomed to deal with and that the program's editors have also known has been the citizen anger . "There are people who have been angry with us because we were recording, but we always made it clear that whoever did not give authorization would not go on the show," says Barbas.
If the presence of a recording team was added for a driver to the start of his Civil Guard stop, on this day the confusion multiplies with the presence of up to three cameras: that of the program, that of the video reporter of this Diary and the photographer's. Agents have placed a mobile radar on a highway north of Madrid limited to 100 kilometers per hour and the infractions are continuous. A woman behind the wheel of a Mercedes passes in front of the device at 140 kilometers per hour. A few meters ahead the patrol waits for you. After informing him of the infraction, the agent retires to process the complaint. At that time the Road Control reporters approach, explain why they are there and ask if they give their authorization to record. The driver kindly rejects him. " I had never been fined . It would be funny if you took me out once I was stopped." He says goodbye with a recipe of 300 euros in his hand and two points less on the card.
Most do not give permission to use their image. In those cases, Carballés continues to record, but using plans that guarantee anonymity: approaches to the hands, backs, profiles ... Drivers who do give authorization do so by signing a paper. "There are people who want to talk to tell their version of the fine," Barbas explains. "Others are because they like to go on television," he adds: "Some even ask me: 'And this, when does it come out?' ".
The guards Manuel Madero and Javier Seijas are the agents involved in this recording. Like the rest of the colleagues who collaborate with the program, they are volunteers. "I really liked the Police in action program . It was very good because people see the real cases the police are facing," says guard Madero, a surname that has earned him more than a joke inside the Benemérita. "Maybe people think we only have a fundraising desire and when they see this program, they may see what work we really do, " he reiterates.
In the middle of the recording, the peculiar detachment formed by agents and journalists receives an unexpected visit, that of Lieutenant Colonel in command of the Madrid Traffic Association, Benito Monzón , who in an informal talk insists on the message: "It costs an hour more of the Pegasus helicopter flight that the money it collects with fines. "
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