“The opening of an investigation by the General Inspectorate of Internal Administration [IGAI] concerns us mainly because of the reputational stain on the council,” stated the PS council members, in reference to the inquiry into the actions of the Lisbon municipal police.
The news of the investigation by IGAI was revealed today, alongside information that the advisory opinion of the Consultative Council of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) regarding the competencies and responsibilities of municipal police forces contradicts the position of the Lisbon Mayor, who instructed the municipal police to start detaining crime suspects in the city.
In response, the PS council members argued that the solution to the city’s security issues “does not involve creating a parallel force to the criminal police or assigning powers that the Constitution does not grant,” noting that other mayors have already made it clear that it is undesirable to burden municipal police with functions that do not belong to them, citing the example of Rui Moreira in Porto, who criticized the “sheriffing” of the territory.
“In Lisbon, we still have a mayor who, without properly exercising the competencies he already has, seeks to extend his powers against the law,” they accused.
The PCP stated that Mayor Carlos Moedas should have contributed to “the credibility of the municipal police” by providing it with the necessary means for exercising its clearly defined competencies, instead of instructing it to detain crime suspects.
According to the PCP, enhancing the municipal police’s competencies jeopardizes their ability to fulfill their responsibilities, including enforcing noise law and preventing improper waste disposal on the streets.
“If Carlos Moedas wanted to strengthen the city’s security, he should have started by reopening police stations closed by the PSD and the PS, starting with the Carnide station, located in a municipal space, or by demanding an increase in the number of PSP officers in Lisbon,” suggested the communists.
For the Livre party, the PGR’s opinion “cannot be ignored,” and the Lisbon Mayor must make it clear to the municipal police that they cannot act as a criminal investigation body.
“If it is understood that the PSP does not meet all of Lisbon’s current public safety needs, then either the Government needs to enhance the PSP’s presence in Lisbon, or the coordination with the municipal police must improve significantly,” suggested the Livre.
From the BE’s perspective, the PGR’s opinion clarifies that Carlos Moedas’s order in September 2024 for the municipal police to start detaining crime suspects in the city “was illegal,” proving that the mayor “was unaware of the powers” of this body considered a municipal service.
“Lisbon needs a municipal police force with oversight capacity in which the residents and workers of Lisbon can trust,” the BE noted.
Citizens For Lisbon (CPL, elected under the PS/Livre coalition) assert that responsibilities must be determined, and instances possibly referred to the Public Prosecutor, based on the PGR’s opinion.
The CPL also believes that it is necessary to await the results of the IGAI investigation, “knowing that Carlos Moedas must face the consequences of his actions, particularly if his instructions led the municipal police to act illegally.”
In statements, the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD), advocated “a small change” in the law to allow the municipal police to detain suspects of crimes caught in the act and take them to a PSP station.
