Making a crime report in Spain to National Police

Three weeks ago, the process of making a crime report in Spain (a denuncia)  changed for reports made to National Police but not Guardia Civil. 

Previously the victim signed 5 copies of the report and was then given one as confirmation.   Now there are four  copies and the victim is not given a copy.   If they insist on confirmation that they have made a report, all they get is a ‘certificate’ that a report was made.  It will show the crime report number, but not any details.  If say Trafico, DVLC ,  an insurance company etc., either in Spain or another country, require details of what was in the report, they will have to contact the National Police.  

Despite asking the police,  I cannot discover any plausible reason for the change, which will no doubt cause considerable inconvenient for victims and additional work for the police and other entities such as insurance companies.

I do not know what the police response would be if one insisted on taking a photo of the report that they had signed, so that they could forward that to their insurance company.Trafico,  etc. !!

Hmm.. that wasn't my experience.. 11 days ago I went to national police to report that I had lost my green residence card.

There were 2 copies he printed out.. one for him, one for me (not 4 or 5)

It's a doc from Ministerio del Interior/Oficina de Denuncias with date and time of report, including:

- Crime report no.

- Comparece: my details, name address etc.

- Manifiesta: Where I lost it, I must tell the truth etc, and then below it the Relacion de Objectivos, stating exactly what was lost.  This was in Denia.

Physically signed by a human and officially stamped by Comisaria.

I am doing a change of address, and was told the denuncio would 'help' this process along since I couldn't prove I had the original residence card.  ie the extranjeros police would use this denuncio as a piece of evidence saying that I already actually have residence here (they could easily check that on their computer.. but anyway.. that's another story).

So I got my signed denuncia... the new rules didn't apply in denia 11 days ago.

Jon,   I did say Crime report. You made a lost report (extravió).    However, I will ask the Comisario (the Police Chief) about lost reports when I am at the Comisaria tomorrow.

And just for charity, unless you are a non EU citizen,  who still have Residencia, you must mean an EU Citizen's Registration Certificate.  For EU citizens,  the Residencies were not renewed as from April 2007, when they were abolished.  So they ceased to exist at the latest in March2012.

Game, set & match, johnzx. lol.

Guy,  to be fair to Jon I think he was trying to contribute to the thread.

An update

This morning at the Comisaría (National police Station) just one non- Spanish person came in the 4 hours I was there to make a report.  It was a loss, which included a British Passport.

The officer took the report (denuncia) and then gave the loser a typed note to say he had made a report, It showed the denuncia number, but there was no reference to what had been reported as lost.

The officer explained that whether the denuncia was for a loss or a theft,  the instructions from their HQ in Madrid said no copy will be supplied.  The order applies to all National Police Stations in Spain.

I asked the officer if the person making the report could take a photo of the report. He agreed and even took the photo when the loser did not now how to find the camera on his phone.

The loser then went off to make arrangements to go the British Consulate to apply for an emergency Passport.

I gave him my email address and asked him to let me know what happens when he is unable to produce a copy of the denuncia and if the photo is helpful.

I will ‘report back’ if I hear from him.

-----------------------------------

On Friday,  I called the British Embassy in Madrid and told them of the new procedure. They had not heard of it but undertook to contact the Ministry for the Interior.  They have not got back to me, so I have no idea what response they got, assuming they did contact the Ministry !

Up-date

Today at the National Police Station where I was, they were refusing to allow a person who had made a denuncia, to take a photo of it.

There was a German lady who‘s German ID had been stolen and a British couple who had both lost their passports.  The Certificate to confirm that each had made a denuncia, only showed that a report had been made but did not show what was stolen. 

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has made a denuncia since 26th May 2015,  what happened in his or her case.  That is,  did they get a copy of the denunicia or just a 'certificate'..

Mine was definitely the denuncia with the details of what had been stolen.

The thing is that whenever you need to apply for something eg. EU Citizen's Registration Certificate (thanks for the correction on that), and you have lost the original, you must present a denuncia to say it has been stolen.

This happened to me as I had lost my green nie card.. they are asking for the denuncia. While I was in the extranjeros police, chap next to me had the same problem.. the girl on reception refused to give him an appointment as he had lost an original document. She said to come back when he had the denuncia to say he had lost it.

If the denuncia 'certificate' doesn't say what has been lost, I can't imagine the extranjeros police taking it as a valid document.. surely they would insist on having the details of what was lost.  And even if you could take photos, no doubt they wouldn't accept that, since it isn't the original denuncia (guessing here..).

It also allows the police to deny in the future, to deny the details of any reported theft or crime.  I wonder what the process is of taking the 'certificate' and requesting details on it from the police. Or using that 'certificate' in a court of law. Could a judge request the police to release details on that document ?

Looks like a useless bit of paper to me.. creepy stuff.

Jon. 

1.    You did not say when you made the denuncia of which you speak

2.   You do not say if you went to the National Police or the Guardia Civil.

The answer to either of those questions might explain why you got a copy.

Hi John,

1. 4th June 2015

2. I was told to go to the Guardia Civil, but they bounced me to the National Police, where all the action happened.

Sent you a p.m. with a copy of it

Jon.

Thanks Jon.    I have sent you a P M.

As I said in that message, I will take it up with the Comisario (Police Chief) I know and ask for an explanation.