Policing for summer operation to double

Police forces at Palma airport and in the main tourist resorts are to be stepped up this summer as part of the “Police 2000” annual summer operation. The summer police operation will be officially presented this morning but police sources said yesterday that this year's campaign will involve 3'170 new officers across the country, an increase of 50 per cent in comparison to last year. The two main aspects of this year's security operation is prevention and protecting the general public. In order to secure the safety of millions of people, especially in areas such as the Balearics, extra police will be on duty from the beaches to the airports. Summer 2000 has been organised in co-operation with all the major tourism authorities and a number of social organisations which have taken care of producing two million guides on prevention and safety which will be handed out to foreign and domestic tourists arriving at key resorts. The security information leaflets have been printed in English, French, German, Japanese and of course Spanish. Over the next few days, ahead of July 1 and the start of the summer security operation, the millions of guides will be distributed to airports, hotels, ports and tourist information offices. Simultaneously, last year's “safe holiday” campaign will also be repeated. “Safe holiday” operation was devised along the lines of community policing and to improve the relationship between the general public and the police. Special telephone hotlines have been set up so that tourists have a direct line to the police in the event of any incident while on holiday. But the “safe holiday” campaign also offers domestic holidaymakers a guarantee that their homes will be watched while away. All people have to do is contact the police hotline before they leave on holiday, provide a contact address while away and in the case of an emergency the police will be able to contact those concerned. Crimes can also be reported on the same numbers and this year the service can be accessed via a special website that has been set up, www.policia.es.