“Lisbon is a safe city, but we cannot look at the numbers superficially. We need to break down the numbers. Sexual abuse crimes have increased by 17% and rape by 12%,” stated Carlos Moedas (PSD).
The mayor was speaking at the Greater Lisbon Summit, organized by SIC Notícias, where topics such as Housing, Security, and Transport are being discussed.
While asserting that overall crime rates have decreased, Moedas cautioned that “there are areas where it is rising,” highlighting that in “Martim Moniz and Arroios, rape crimes increased by 68%.”
In contrast to these figures, he noted that the number of police officers has declined, stating, “In 2010, there were eight thousand police officers in Lisbon, and today there are 6,700.”
“The Municipal Police had 600 officers in 2018, and today it has 400, with many nearing retirement,” he added.
The mayor of Lisbon emphasized the need for the government to grant more powers to the Municipal Police, as these officers are trained by the PSP and therefore have competencies.
In Almada, the first tender for the initial 25 municipal police officers was recently launched, a project that Mayor Inês de Medeiros (PS) believes will “contribute to the feeling of a community-oriented police force.”
Also in Almada, general crime numbers have decreased, but “youth violence and domestic violence among young people have significantly risen.”
“This violence cannot be tackled solely with police action, but with educational policies, improvements in public spaces, better schools, more sports, and solid, reliable, and continuous public policies,” she argued.
Similarly, in Sintra, while violent crime has decreased, domestic violence has risen. According to the local mayor, one of the reasons for this violence is poverty, with some areas of the town facing such conditions.
Basílio Horta (PS) also criticized various governments for not making “serious investments in Sintra over the past 12 years,” despite it being the second-largest municipality in the country.
Claiming that security in Oeiras has improved, the mayor stated that he manages the municipality with over 100,000 residents as “the safest in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon,” with domestic violence being the crime that “has grown the most.”
According to Isaltino Morais (IN-OV), all PSP stations in Oeiras were built by the municipality, and police service vehicles were also acquired by the local government because “it is unacceptable that they don’t have cars” for responding to incidents.
In Loures, violent and serious crime has increased, with many instances of theft and domestic violence “having significantly risen in the municipality,” according to the mayor.
Ricardo Leão (PS) stated that people “complain about the need for more community policing.”
According to the mayor, Loures has 40 Municipal Police officers, and a tender will be launched for 17 more. For a population of 150,000, the PSP has an average of three vehicles available, which he described as “unfortunate.”
“It’s important to resume local security contracts. They were taken away from us (…) it’s crucial to have a direct relationship between PSP officers and local residents,” he stated.
In Cascais, the deputy mayor, Nuno Piteira Lopes (PSD), mentioned that a video surveillance system is being prepared, with plans to install 440 cameras across all parishes of the municipality.
Additionally, he argued that the Municipal Police “can and should have more competencies” and criticized the allocation of PSP officers to programs like School Safety, the Elderly Program, or non-injury traffic accident response, suggesting that releasing them from these duties would free up more than 50 officers to be on patrol.
