Interior Minister Margarida Blasco promised on Tuesday that police action would “continue to intensify” in the cities of Porto and Lisbon, stressing that the number of officers would increase this summer.
The minister said the reinforcement was part of the Safe Summer 2024 programme, which began on 15 June.
“Additional elements will be allocated in addition to the operational ones already assigned” in Porto and Lisbon, and “foot policing actions will be carried out”, which is “the aspect in which people feel safest”.
The minister was responding to journalists during the delivery of equipment and vehicles for the Republican National Guard (GNR) and equipment for the Portuguese police involved in the Paris Olympics, at the Escola da Guarda in Queluz, Lisbon,
Margarida Blasco explained that the security forces will use graduates of the “last three or four years.”
“There are 800 people who need to be distributed throughout Portugal and its most important points,” he specified.
Margarida Blasco assured that the government is in contact with “mayors, local authorities and associations.”
The minister also stressed that “PSP will also be present” at airports and that “this is a function that will be very necessary due to the increase in tourism that always occurs at this time of year.”
Asked whether there would be any police reinforcement planned in the parish of Santa Maria Maior in Lisbon (following concerns expressed by the president of the Lisbon municipality), Margarida Blasco acknowledged that it was “another parish” with security problems, stressing that a “survey of the most critical situations” had been carried out to identify areas where increased policing was needed.
On Monday, Lisbon City Council President Carlos Moedas once again called for more police in the city, saying there had been a “clear increase” in crime and that he was pressuring the government to address the situation.
Three days earlier, the mayor of Lisbon also expressed concern about the lack of security in the parish of Santa Maria Maior and defended the reinforcement of the police in an interview with Radio Renascença – a concern to which the PSP responded by stating that in this parish, “both crime in general and violent crime have decreased compared to the same period last year.”
On June 12, Rui Moreira, the mayor of Porto, said there were “objective reasons” to talk about increasing instability in the city and that it was no longer “just a matter of perception,” highlighting the lack of human resources and technical expertise in the police “to cover needs.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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