The city of Faro inaugurated on Tuesday a CCTV system with 41 cameras, managed by PSP 24 hours a day and installed in 32 locations with the highest influx of citizens and traffic in the Algarve capital.
“For us, this provides increased security for both nightlife and for citizens walking around Faro during the day, in addition to controlling movement on the city’s main arteries. I think that from this Tuesday we will all be safer,” the president of the municipality, Rogerio Bacalhau, told reporters.
The 32 locations were selected by the PSP and, as the mayor explained, are linked to “a history of problems” and complaints registered at the city’s “black spots”, with the aim of preventing crime and curbing traffic violations.
The municipality’s total investment, including the contract for the expansion of the fibre optic network and the installation of the system, amounted to “more than 400 thousand euros, plus VAT,” the mayor of Faro said.
The commander of the second district of the PSP Faro, intendant Mario Oliveira, explained during the inaugural session of the network that 27 cameras were installed in shopping and nightclubs, and the remaining 14 on the six main roads of the city, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
To ensure privacy, windows, doors and private spaces are ‘pixelated’, images will only be stored for 30 days, information is encrypted and images are only shared from the police to the prosecutor’s office.
Access to the system is limited to agents trained for the purpose, and image extraction is restricted to criminal investigation agents, he added.
The PSP district commander, Superintendent Dario Prates, said the project had been “long requested by the Faro City Council, the PSP and citizens” and guaranteed that it would be used “always with respect and protection of fundamental rights”, being “an essential tool to support police activity and prevent crime”.
Intendant Mário Oliveira recalled that the video surveillance system was implemented in stages in the Algarve: 26 cameras were activated in Olhão in 2021 and 61 cameras in Portimão in 2022.
These two video surveillance systems, he added, have already been used to collect evidence in 181 criminal cases: 137 in Portimão and 44 in Olhão.
The PSP is working on expanding the CCTV system in the two cities with more cameras, “which is in the process of being authorised”, as well as installing new systems in the cities of Lagos and Tavira, he also revealed the second PSP district commander.
The meeting that marked the launch of the Faro video surveillance system was attended by the National Director of the PSP, Superintendent Luis Carrillo, and the Secretary of State for Internal Administration Telmo Correia.
In his speech, the government official stressed that CCTV is one of the technological tools the government intends to promote, along with cameras for personal use (“body cams”), “which is a more sophisticated process” that will contribute to “more value for the police”.
Telmo Correia stressed that video surveillance “makes sense in many cases,” citing PSP data that in Amador, the area where the cameras were installed, crime “fell by about 60% and serious crimes, including attempted murders, were avoided.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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