The chief inspector for the central police station in the city of Valencia, Ricardo Ferris, has been fired after publicly stating that “practically all street crime is committed by illegal immigrants,” adding that “for the past five years [the police] have not been dealing with national [Spanish] criminals,” meaning that crime is overwhelmingly committed by foreigners. He also said that “the immigrants who arrive on pateras [small boats used for illegal crossings of the Mediterranean Sea] are all criminals.”
Valencia has seen a 31.5% increase in crime so far with respect to the same period last year.
Ferris made these statements at a conference held by DENAES (the Foundation for the Defense of the Spanish Nation) together with VOX.
Government representative Pilar Bernabé described the comments as “absolutely despicable, reprehensible and, above all, false.”
