BESCAM information

The BESCAM, an acronym for Brigadas Especiales de Seguridad de la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (Special Security Brigades for the Autonomous Community of Madrid), is a police body created by the government of the Community of Madrid in Spain. It is not a specific police organization but rather a project of the regional government of the Autonomous Community of Madrid 2500 which aims to fund local police distributed among the different municipalities of the Community in response to strict technical criteria, with particular emphasis on the population, geographic location or, in the case of those with fewer than 25,000 inhabitants, taking into account the seasonal population increase, or other factors such as low levels of police staffing, industrial development and urban growth. In early 2008, 2,500 agents, distributed in 102 locations in the Greater Madrid area that have a local police force, were members of these units.

Unlike the Ertzaintza or the Mossos d'Esquadra, BESCAM is not a full-blown police corps but a series of manpower and equipment contingents assigned to the already existing local police forces. Nonetheless, BESCAM contingents have different uniforms, and their vehicles have different livery to their local forces.