Braga district PSP commander Enriques Almeida on Tuesday pointed to the “papal amnesty” as the main reason for the 25.5% increase in 2023 in violent and serious crimes in the four municipalities under his jurisdiction.
At the ceremony marking the 147th anniversary of Braga’s command, which took place in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Enriques Almeida said that 50 more violent and serious crimes occurred in 2023 than in 2022.
At stake is primarily the increase in the number of crimes related to theft on public roads, “many of which were committed in the final stage of the year as a result of the application of the Amnesty Law and the subsequent release of some prisoners.
“Some of the culprits were re-arrested and forced into preventive detention,” added Henriques Almeida, stressing that the numbers have since returned to normal.
In terms of overall crime, the official said an increase of 10 percent was recorded, corresponding to 603 more crimes.
But, he emphasized, if we exclude records of crimes resulting from the active work of the PSP, which resulted in more actions on the ground, then this increase was 7.2 percent, that is, 378 crimes more than in 2022.
The increase was “largely driven by computer fraud.”
This command, which includes 538 police officers, covers the municipalities of Braga, Guimarães, Vila Nova de Famalicão and Barcelos, with a total population of about 265 thousand people.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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