1,000 police school students to take part in police work during World Youth Day

A thousand students from police schools will participate in World Youth Day policing, the PSP director said Thursday, adding that the model was used by his Spanish counterpart when the meeting was held in Madrid.

“We are also going to use the 1,000 students who are currently being trained in educational institutions, similar to what was done by the Spanish police in the World Youth Day that took place in Madrid and which was identified, according to the reports of the Spanish police, as an excellent practice. which made up for many shortcomings of the overall presence,” Manuel Magina da Silva told reporters at the end of a visit to two facilities purchased by PSP social services to house police officers.

The official specified that these students would be “apparently framed” by the police.

These 1,000 students will be joined by 1,800 police officers from other commands in the country to reinforce the Lisbon Metropolitan Command PSP (Cometlis), said the national director of the Public Security Police, specifying that the personnel deployed to provide security for the Jornada World Youth Day (WYD) – 2,800 people, including students and the police.

Magina da Silva estimated that the police involved in the protection and security of the WYD would number “at least” 10,000, including elements from Cometlis, the Special Police Unit and the PSP National Directorate.

The official explained that all teams in the country will reinforce Kometlis with police, with the exception of Faro, Azores and Madeira, in addition to Bragança and Aveiro, which will release only 10% of their personnel instead of the envisaged 20%, since events that could not be postponed will take place in these locations.

Magina da Silva said that the WYD, which will take place in the Portuguese capital in the first week of August, “is in fact an event of unprecedented proportions in the country” and that the PSP will have “unprecedented policing and security in the area.” Lisbon”.

For this reason, the national director of the PSP has suspended the leave of police officers from 26 July to 7 August.

“I have determined that most PSP teams will reinforce the Lisbon Metropolitan Office with 20% of their staff because that is the maximum number of cops that can be on leave per team. This 20% means that if there were no shifts, the teams would still not have 20%,” he explained.

This means, according to Magina da Silva, “a very significant increase in the operational capacity of Cometlis, because “a very strong, proactive and intense police surveillance in the city of Lisbon” is required.

At the end of May, when he visited WYD headquarters, the national director of the PSP announced that 2,800 police officers would arrive from other commands in the country to reinforce Kometlis during WYD.

When asked about this change, he replied that “it’s a confusion of numbers.”

Considered the largest event of the Catholic Church, WYD will take place from August 1 to 6, and about 1.5 million people, almost three times the population of Lisbon, are expected to attend in the presence of Pope Francis.

The main ceremonies of the day take place in the Tagus Park, north of the Parque des Nations, on the banks of the Tagus River, in the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures.