A new ordinance detailing the admission requirements for the Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP) training course was published today in the Diário da República and will come into effect on Tuesday.
The updated criteria for applying to the PSP include a maximum age of 35 years, while retaining the minimum age of 18 and Portuguese nationality.
Other entry conditions comprise “possessing the necessary physical and psychological profile for police duties, having completed or currently attending the 12th grade or equivalent, and having no criminal record that disqualifies from police service.”
Signed by the Minister of Internal Administration, Maria Lúcia Amaral, the ordinance eliminates the requirement of a minimum height for applicants, which previously stood at 1.60 meters for women and 1.65 for men.
The Government explained these changes, stating they are meant to update “rules regarding the publicization of the recruitment process, the deadlines and the application submission method, and the selection process implementation,” alongside “a revision of admission criteria to facilitate a wider candidate selection.”
In 2022, when new recruitment criteria were introduced, the minimum and maximum age requirements were also changed, shifting the minimum age from 19 to 18 and the maximum from 27 to 30. Additionally, youths attending the 12th grade were permitted to enroll in the training program.
The announcement comes after former Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, was compelled to revoke a similar ordinance for failing to consult unions as legally required.
The review of admission prerequisites for future agents ties into a decreasing number of PSP applicants over recent years.
In the 1990s, PSP received over 16,000 applications and more than 10,000 in 2012, with current numbers not exceeding 4,000.
This year’s recruitment process aimed at establishing a reserve for the PSP training course drew 3,392 applicants.
