The preliminary version of the 2024 Annual Internal Security Report (RASI), set to be approved at today’s meeting of the High Council for Internal Security, reveals that juvenile delinquency has been on the rise since 2021. Last year, it increased by 12.5% compared to 2023. Group crime also saw an increase, rising by 7.7%.
The document notes the continued prevalence of cases related to sexual offenses, notably the sexual abuse of children committed by younger offenders aged 12 to 16. Additionally, crimes involving child pornography via applications like Discord and WhatsApp, which are used to share sexually explicit and pornographic materials, are highlighted.
The preliminary report points out that although there was a “certain calm” last year regarding serious crimes against life and physical integrity by youths in groups, the crimes are becoming increasingly severe and are committed by increasingly younger individuals, with little regard for the value of human life.
“Firearms or bladed weapons are easily used to attack, and these episodes of violence often occur over trivial disputes,” the report states, noting that violence associated with youth groups, whose suspects range between 15 and 25 years old, has had significant expression in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.
The RASI indicates that dynamics linked to rivalries between groups from different areas or neighborhoods of the Lisbon metropolitan area persist. These conflicts are often referenced “in music and video clips of musical subcultures that feature hyper-local and hyper-personal references (specifically concerning a geographical area, particular occurrence, individual, or specific date).”
The report identifies social networks as an “extension of the group and the neighborhood itself.”
Cautioning that there is likely “a significant number of unreported crimes,” the report mentions that these groups also use YouTube as the main platform for content publication and emphasizes that certain incidents occur in shopping malls and near train and metro stations in the metropolitan area, enhancing “the media coverage and consequent sense of insecurity.”
The RASI also highlights another trend of incidents (some unreported) near schools, “probably because the perpetrators know some routines of the victims and the establishments they attend.”
The report further notes urban violence episodes recorded in 2024 following the death of Odair Moniz by a PSP officer in Cova da Moura, Amadora. Many suspects, later identified in different areas of Greater Lisbon, were group members who used social media for quick organization and mobilization of protesters, demonstrating “the capacity of amplifying a message of hate and inciting violence, leading significantly to the escalation and widespread violence.”
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