Two women are for the first time in the last phase of access to the Special Intervention Group (GEI) of the Mossos d’Esquadra, the elite teams of the Catalan police that intervene in the face of serious threats. Once the medical tests are finished, the two women will begin the coexistence, as the “work adaptation phase” is known: 21 days maximum in which applicants are pushed to the “physical and mental limit.” It is the first time that two women have made it this far, after passing the physical tests of this unit, which have been adapted for female applicants in the last call. Until now, not even the GHGs, nor their equivalents in the National Police (GEO) and in the Civil Guard (Special Intervention Unit), they have women in their ranks. The Mossos are pioneers in lowering the physical requirements by gender for access to an operational group, a controversial issue that arouses misgivings in the rest of the security forces.
In order to incorporate women into their elite teams, the Catalan police met with the force’s equality teams, they thought about formulas without reservation of places, and they chose to work with professionals from the field. High Performance Center (CAR) of Sant Cugat. “We wanted advice to prepare the physical tests,” explains the chief GHG deputy inspector. With them, they developed scales that assume “the same physical demands on men and women” given that “with equal preparation, men surpass women.” The adjustments have been made year by year. First an 800 meter race, in 2.16 minutes for men and 2.39 for women seeking the highest score. The circuit follows, with a 20-kilogram bag test for men and 15 for women, in 15.30 and 18.9 seconds, respectively. Third, bench press with 65 kilos for them and 42 for women, to repeat 15 times in 45 seconds. Then a swimming, apnea and skill exercise, in 42 seconds for them and 52 seconds for them. And finally, the men must finish the final stretch of physical tests, such as the plinth, or weights, in 4.55 minutes, and they in less than 6.
Of the 350 men and 15 women who took the last call to fill the 17 places in the GEI, 180 men passed the test, and of the nine women who made it to the physical exams, eight passed. Until now, no woman had managed to overcome this phase, which was the same for men and women until last year. The mossas They come from different units: from public order (ARRO and BRIMO) to citizen security or investigation. Afterwards, the applicants were subjected to a battery of psychotechnical tests and interviews to “adjust a desired competency profile”, which led them to select the 57 candidates (55 men and two women) who are at the doors of the coexistence, where the copper will really be beaten.
Formally, it is called the “task adaptation phase,” and it lasts a maximum of 21 days. “Here there is no type of scale for women: either you surpass them or you don’t,” says the sub-inspector. The process takes the applicants “to the physical and mental limit.” “They must face tests of all kinds: claustrophobia, vertigo, extreme situations, heights, in water, in the dark, self-control…”, explains the head of the GEI. They are varied situations in which physical resistance, fatigue, teamwork, self-control, frustration management, mental strength are tested… “We seek to bring out the most primary part of the person,” he adds. to gauge whether it is suitable for the work they will have to undertake. “It’s where we really start to squeeze the applicants to see if they have what we’re looking for.”
While waiting to finish the medical tests, the coexistence They will start the first week of November. And if everything continues as planned, in mid-December the list of people who have passed them, and who are invited to the six-month course taught at the Public Security Institute of Catalonia (ISPC), will be known. The intention is for it to begin in the first quarter of 2025, and then for the candidates to join the GHG internship for a year. Once completed, the square is yours by rights. Although the most common thing is that not all vacancies are filled. Some applicants fall in the last phase, which is why they now consider sending 24 people to the school even if there are 17 places. “That will give us more margin,” explains the sub-inspector, who remembers that in the previous call, in 2017, 15 of the 24 offered were covered.
Currently, 36 people are part of the GEI. They are the specialists who intervene in the most delicate cases: kidnappings, extortion, terrorism, organized crime… Also in situations involving the protection of personalities, such as a visit from the king, or in large events, such as the Copa del América. “The work has an important physical condition, just with all the material that we have to handle and carry all day. Muscularly, a man can handle it better,” admits the police commander. “But that does not mean that the “The competency profile of a woman may not be optimal in our service,” he adds. With physical fitness, they hope to open a “window of opportunity” for women. “Then they will earn it by hand, we will not give them anything,” she defends, about a group that has carried out a dozen calls, women have begun to present themselves from the “seventh or eighth”, and never more than four. “We openly encourage women to come forward,” she adds, aware of the controversy it raises. No elite body in the rest of the state has women in its ranks. “But in Germany and France there are, in their operational groups, and they are working well,” he concludes.
