A report was submitted this week to the Ministry of Justice by the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services (DGRSP), as part of an ongoing plan to enhance security within prisons.
The purpose of this document is to provide an update on the measures that have been implemented or are underway in the first three months of the year, following a nationwide audit by the Inspectorate-General of Justice Services.
After the escape of five inmates from the Vale de Judeus prison on September 7 of last year, the issue of video surveillance became a major topic of discussion. The Ministry of Justice now reports that the DGRSP is installing new video surveillance systems in several prisons and reinforcing existing ones in others. Additionally, the central services will begin permanent monitoring across all 49 prisons, operating 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Regarding construction work, a survey was conducted over the past three months to identify the most urgent interventions needed in each prison. The initial projects are set to commence in June this year. Prisons have listed priorities such as covering patios, refurbishing walls, replacing fences, and renewing windows, among other needs.
The ministry, led by Rita Alarcão Júdice, states that these projects involve an investment of 4.5 million euros, funded in part by the Justice Modernization Fund.
The current implementation report also outlines, as previously announced by the Ministry of Justice, the installation of signal inhibitors against mobile phones and drone signals at the Vale de Judeus prison. The pilot project is presently under development, with plans to extend it to other prisons. Furthermore, the project concerning the construction of two surveillance towers at Vale de Judeus is reported to be in an advanced stage.
The measures now being enacted within prisons follow the audit conducted at the end of last year on the security conditions of the 49 facilities. The audit exposed “deficiencies” in equipment, organization, and resource management, including a recommendation to evaluate prison capacity.
Following the submission of this implementation report, the DGRSP has until June to present a new document. By the year’s end, the Inspectorate-General of Justice Services is expected to release a new report based on another audit to be conducted during the last three months of the year.
For security reasons, neither the report submitted at the end of last year nor the document delivered this week will be made public.
