PSP union reports police troubles during World Youth Day

Difficulties in accessing food, transport restrictions, issuance delays and a lack of information and intelligence were some of the problems police faced during World Youth Day, one PSP union denounced this Friday.

During the World Youth Day (WYD), which took place from August 1 to 6 in Lisbon, the Public Security Police mobilized about 10,000 police officers, almost 2,000 of them from other parts of the country, who were supposed to stay in the Portuguese capital and more than 900 students from the school Torres Novas and the Higher Police Institute.

The leaders of the Allied Association of Police Professionals (APP/PSP) have been monitoring the working conditions of the police officers during this week, drawing some conclusions, problems and difficulties that the agents encountered during the WYD.

The ASPP said in a statement that many specialists “failed to live up to expectations because the discovered reality did not match the initial information provided by the national director of the PSP”, and that “disorganization and lack of coordination led to delays in the surrender of the police and in transport to and from duty stations”, in addition to the “lack or delay in logistical support”, including food, that many agents encountered.

According to the ASPP, several police teams were deployed “belatedly, which could have affected their work and training”, “deployment shifts”, which created “difficulties with food and some accommodation”, and many agents reported “lack of clear information about the mission needs to be developed, in addition to the lack of operational material such as communications.”

ASPP also points to work overload and poor management of human resources, as well as transport problems, namely “lack of coordination in transporting teams to Lisbon and vice versa, which causes problems in logistics.”

Another issue reported by the largest police union was “a precarious situation for the staff of the police training institutions”, given that the students of the two PSP academies were “in a precarious and risky situation in terms of operational structure”. .

The ASPP also points out that there was “different treatment of police officers at different levels”, arguing that not all received “adequate conditions and equal treatment”, revealing “situations of incompetence and arrogance in the performance of command duties, when professionals were given tasks that were inappropriate their functions and categories.

The ASPP offers “access to the report of the General Inspectorate of Internal Administration (IGAI) on working conditions during the WYD, the issuance of a directive that extends the term for all police officers participating in the WYD, and a meeting with the Minister of the Interior.” Administration to discuss changes and updates to the per diem table and plan the negotiation process to revise the remuneration table.