“It seems to me that what the Municipal Police (PM) should do – and has been doing – is to relieve the PSP of certain tasks that were its responsibility, namely traffic management, as has already been done, freeing the PSP to carry out its most noble function: protection and security. This complementarity is what I advocate. I understand that the ‘sheriffing’ of the territory is not at all convenient,” said the mayor during the celebrations of the 87th anniversary of Porto’s Municipal Police.
At the Francos Collection Station, where the services of Porto’s Municipal Police will be centralized, Rui Moreira emphasized the need for complementarity and cooperation between the two police forces, noting that enhancing the Municipal Police’s competencies would require its officers to engage in criminal investigation as well.
“I don’t see any need or interest in starting to conduct criminal investigations, which we would have to do if we had other competencies. Criminal investigation in Portugal is carried out by the PSP, PJ, and GNR, and in our view, that’s sufficient,” he stated.
In September 2024, the mayor expressed his disagreement with increasing the PM’s powers, which was at the time advocated by Lisbon’s mayor, Carlos Moedas, as it “creates entropy, distrust and doesn’t solve the problem.”
In today’s ceremony, Rui Moreira noted that it is no surprise that Porto is dealing with “some security issues,” highlighting hate crimes against immigrants, violence in nightlife areas, petty theft, and drug trafficking in public spaces.
Using these examples, the outgoing president argued that state investment to enhance security in the city “remains inadequate” and is “not consistent” with the efforts made by the local government in crime prevention and combat.
“Since 2015, the Municipal Police has nearly tripled its staff numbers. There has also been significant investment in resources and equipment, with 80 vehicles, mostly electric, as we can see today,” he exemplified.
The mayor believes it is “imperative” to have a more efficient geographical redistribution of existing PSP stations and a “concrete commitment” to human resources at the Porto Metropolitan Command.
