“Nobody likes allegations in the institutions they serve, because the 20,000 police officers we have give their best every day (…) and a single case is already bad. One case does not please anyone, it does not please the national director of the PSP, none of the police officers, nor the institutions that work with us, but life in society is like this. That’s why we have laws, a Constitution, police and judicial authorities, and we, in terms of credibility, have rigorous internal control. At the same time, I am – naturally – disappointed that there may be a case, but it is a sign that the institutions are working“, said Luís Carrilho.
The director of the Public Security Police, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the 87th-anniversary celebrations of the Porto Municipal Police, refused to comment on the specific case because it is under judicial secrecy and considered it necessary to let the institutions now function and do their investigative work.
“Generally speaking, I can say that whenever there are signs that correspond to the practice [of crime] – whether by police officers or not – our loyalty is to the law and the Constitution of the Republic”, he said, assuring that “the Portuguese population and those who live in Portugal can continue to count on and trust the PSP”.
Two PSP officers were detained on Thursday following searches conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) on suspicion of crimes of torture, aggravated assault, embezzlement, and forgery.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, it was the PSP itself that reported the facts under investigation to the MP.
Two PSP officers were detained today following searches conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of torture, a source from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) told Lusa.
Lusa | 18:11 – 10/07/2025
Luís Carrilho also stated that the PSP “will always do everything” to ensure the best internal and institutional control, emphasizing that the police is “an institution with very strong internal disciplinary and hierarchical control”, as well as external control, notably by judicial authorities, and also at the level of informal control, such as the media and the entire population.
The searches on Thursday took place in some police stations of the first Police Division in Lisbon, with a police source indicating to Lusa that they occurred at least in the Bairro Alto and Rato stations.
In addition to the searches conducted in the stations, the Public Prosecutor’s Office also carried out home searches.
Contacted by Lusa, the Ministry of Internal Administration indicated that it would not comment on the searches.
