The possibility that local police officers in Madrid exceptionally use long weapons such as rifles or combat rifles and “dum dum” expansive bullets, has caused a judicial clash between the central and regional governments. Thus, the Ministry of the Interior, chaired by Fernando Grande-Marlaska, brought before the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) the regulation on the means of armament and defense of the Local Police Force of the Community of Madrid, approved in July by the government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, according to this Thursday’s regional bulletin. The law was the subject of controversy even before its approval: the regional executive had to eliminate from the text the possibility that the local police used armor-piercing, incendiary or explosive ammunition, when its legal commission asked, according to the documentation consulted by EL PAÍS, to clarify in which circumstances they could be used, since they are classified as military ammunition.
The regulatory conflict will be resolved before the Eighth Section of the Litigation-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid.
“Two specific aspects of the Community of Madrid decree have been challenged,” explains a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior. “This decree gives the Police Headquarters of the Community of Madrid the possibility of authorizing, on an exceptional basis, the use of long weapons. Royal Decree 137/1993, of 29 January, which approves the Weapons Regulation, establishes that local agents can only use short weapons”, begins the list. And he continues: “The decree of the Community of Madrid also allows the use of expanding ammunition, a use prohibited by Royal Decree 137/1993”.
Therefore, the Madrid regulations actually provide for the possibility of using “dum dum or hollow point bullets”, which expand when they penetrate the target, multiplying pain and damage.
This is what a spokesperson for the regional council says: “We are only aware of the filing of the appeal, but we are not aware of the reasons.”
In a ruling in June, the Legal Advisory Commission asked the government to clarify under what circumstances it would allow local police to use armour-piercing, incendiary or explosive ammunition. The body, consulted in the drafting of the decree, then recalled that these munitions are classified as “military”, “therefore it can be assumed that they must be limited to said area, therefore extraneous to what concerns us in the local police”.
The warning was essential, which is why the Ayuso government had to modify the content of the law. A government spokesperson interviewed by this newspaper stated this: “The reference to ammunition for military use referred to in section l) of article 5.1 of the State Weapons Regulations has been eliminated.”
The new rule, approved in July, establishes, on the one hand, the use of basic individual defensive material, which consists of a short firearm with its respective anti-theft hard case, as well as magazines, ammunition, defenses, police batons, chains and bulletproof vests, according to a government press release. On the other hand, the government statement adds, this includes the use of complementary equipment when greater protection or effectiveness is needed, such as some long weapons in specialized units, electrical control devices and defensive aerosols, as well as others that project narcotic, toxic or corrosive substances.
The rule explicitly specifies “that these means are permitted only when there is a rationally serious risk to the professional’s life, to his physical integrity or to that of third parties, as well as in circumstances that may pose a serious risk to public safety”.
Now the TSJM will decide whether Madrid has exceeded its limits by granting the local police the possibility of arming themselves in the same way as units specially authorized for this purpose of the National Police and the Civil Guard, and only in specific situations and with prior authorization from their general directorates.
