His white hair and his characteristic figure are unmistakable in the Salamanca district. For the children, he is the
good cop
who lends them his hat, for the teenagers the one
who gives talks about bullying
; for merchants, the person who ensures the safety of their businesses; for the elderly, the one who repeats ad nauseam that "
a hip is worth more than everything they carry in their purse
" ... Few know that he is the Citizen Participation delegate; for everyone he is Fermín, the man on the other end of the phone if something happens to them.
"Good morning, boss," a beggar greets him at the gates of Goya's Corte Inglés. Fermín Pacetti winks back at him. He has started his journey on this street to visit a couple of shops and continue to preach
his "subjective safety"
. He is not Mick Jagger or Bruce Springsteen, but it takes him several minutes to travel the 10 meters that separate his car from the establishments.
It is difficult for you to take three steps in a row
without someone stopping you to say hello or approaching you to tell you about a problem.
"You have to make them see that
their concern is the most important thing for you at that moment
. More even than what you have to do. We offer them subjective security. We cannot give the objective security, we are not gods. We may be in a jewelry and berthed with us inside. But citizens
have to feel protected
, that's our job, "explains this deputy inspector, who has been patrolling Salamanca for 23 years.
Fermín patrolling the streets of the Salamanca district.
NAVARRETE
He knows its streets, and they know him. Hence, your mobile is kept on the agenda of so many neighbors. "
I have been giving it since 2000 ... imagine.
It is a 24 hour job, not eight. We will never stop taking a call whatever time it is. When I was hospitalized for Covid, with a line in my arm, I
managed 52 calls a day
. People did not know that he was in the hospital ", slides, expressive, Fermín.
After saying goodbye to the last business scheduled this morning, the pharmacy run by her friend Esperanza, returns to the
painted one
, the official car of the National Police, and heads to the Loreto school where she has to give a brief talk framed in the
Ciberexperto
project
,
about security in the networks
, to sixth grade boys.
Luis and Leticia giving a talk about the 'Ciberexperto' project.
NAVARRETE
Luis and Leticia are already waiting for him in the courtyard,
the two spearheads of the
Citizen Participation
group
under the orders of Fermín. They are more than used to getting to appointments before their boss, that's why they smile when they see him arrive. "
That's how it is every day, someone always stops him
and we go ahead of him, but we don't take it into account," jokes Leticia.
Inside the Loreto, its director, Ana Palacios, verbalizes between compliments the esteem she has for this trio of agents.
It's not the only one.
Participación Ciudadana has been in some of
the most complicated moments of the neighborhood schools
, the last one a couple of weeks ago: the boyfriend of a student, very violent and with a criminal record,
threatens to kill an entire class
if he is not paid by each student 10 euros.
"Only one girl told her mother and she told us. We sent two plainclothes officers, with the intention of arresting the boy, but he did not appear ...", contextualizes Fermín.
Who adds: "We are aware that it reached the ears of the criminal we were looking for ...
He has not reappeared. Problem solved
."
Business after business
The clock passes 12.30 and, back at the police station, the pace does not stop. The office phone rings. A lottery calls this group very scared: they have just been scammed by a man who "checked fire extinguishers" and they have
blown
200 euros. "Many
call us before 091,
" says Fermín as he begins to make calls to try to locate the scammer. Someone places you on the banks of the WiZink.
Leticia and Luis run off
to try to intercept him. The result? Money recovered and a merchant who will sleep with the lesson learned. "We tell everyone,
the bad guys don't limp or wear an eye patch
... they are always the nicest," emphasizes the deputy inspector.
The work of this group has paid off. During this month, Luis and Leticia have implemented the
Safe Commerce
plan
, going
business after business to inform owners
about the most common types of fraud and how to protect themselves. And, in July, they will do the same with the doormen of the district buildings. "We go portal by portal recommending that they watch well
that there is no zeal or glue strings on the
residents'
doors
. As there are only two of us, we have a lot of collaboration from the Response Operational Group (GOR)," Luis details, to which Fermín interrupts: "As they say in my land, we have to know
where the grass will grow next year
. And to achieve it, the Police and the citizens have to be one."
For this reason also develop the plan
Secure Trade
, the plan
Manager
-focused in children
-
the plan
Tourism Insurance
and, of course
, the plan
added security -
focused on
the elderly and to support those who care for our elders
-
.
Fermín hugs an old man in a residence.
NAVARRETE
To keep everything under control, Participación Ciudadana supervises the monthly concerts of the WiZink Center - "
It is not the same that Il Divo comes as Extremoduro
, the problem is different" -;
the bullring of Las Ventas - "It is not the same as José Tomás bullfighting, where the resale goes through the roof, for another less known one to come-; they have to know if the Cycling Tour will pass; or if any union has planned a casserole in front of a hotel or department store. "
We have to know everything
, and the only way is to meet everyone," adds Fermín, who takes that letter at face value.
Solidarity actions
Something he does even in his spare time. "In a nursing home they needed a Santa Claus for Christmas ...
I bought a suit and there I went.
Just to see their excited faces it was worth it." He is also proud when he talks about the living nativity scene that they assemble every year, where about 100 elderly people from the Hermanitas de los Pobres residence
interpret some biblical character for four days
for the enjoyment of about 5,000 children from the schools in the area. "And now, on the 21st, we will return to make them eat. We owe it to them for everything they have gone through during the pandemic," says Fermín.
This deputy inspector is only
one of the 30 Citizen Participation delegates working in Madrid
, all coordinated by the provincial delegate, Ester Pulido.
"If I am not the most veteran, I will be tied with another. I have been in this position
from minute zero, and I would like to retire here
", remarks Fermín, who values what his team and his counterparts have achieved in all these years: "We have managed to change the perception of society. Years ago, when an agent went somewhere,
the first thing he heard was what happened here?
Not now, nowadays they see you as just another neighbor."
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
See links of interest
Work calendar
Holidays Madrid
Home THE WORLD TODAY
England - Croatia, live
Roland Garros final: Djokovic - Tsitsipas, live
Austria - Macedonia, live
Real Madrid - Barça
Netherlands - Ukraine, live