The commander of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command (Cometlis) of the PSP, Chief Superintendent Luís Elias, defended in an interview with the Lusak agency a reinforcement of police for the largest command in the country, considering that the Cometlis area is operating with the minimum staff for all needs. The command covers nine municipalities with a population of approximately three million people and has only six thousand police officers. Luís Elias emphasized that Cometlis is the largest armed and uniformed unit in the country, larger than the Portuguese Navy or the Judicial Police force, and warned that the number of police officers cannot drop below a certain level.
The commander also called for less alarmist speeches about security in the public square, responding to alerts from the president of the Lisbon City Council about an atmosphere of insecurity in the capital's streets. Luís Elias considered that the mayor has legitimacy for whatever statements he deems appropriate, but argued that security policies require effective work and coordination between different entities, including the municipality itself. The official numbers do not demonstrate a situation of widespread insecurity, with overall crime increasing 2.9% in the first eight months of the year in the Cometlis area, but violent and serious crime decreasing 0.4%.
Regarding the 200 police officers promised by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro for Lisbon in May, the commander stated that a training course at the Police Practical School is underway, ending on December 18th, hoping that a significant portion of those police officers will be assigned to Cometlis. In May, when the last course ended, 190 police officers were assigned to Lisbon. Luís Elias also advanced that the PSP delivered to the Ministry of Internal Administration a proposal for restructuring the deployment in Lisbon, Porto, and Setúbal, which in some cases does not involve closing police stations, but rather their conversion into other types of police facilities.
The commander highlighted that the increase in crimes such as drug trafficking, illegal or drunk driving, disobedience, and pickpocketing in Greater Lisbon is mainly explained by the increased police presence and the PSP's proactivity. By the end of August, the PSP had made 500 more arrests compared to the same period last year. Luís Elias also expressed concern about organized burglaries and robberies by international groups, referring to the rolex gang, a criminal group from South America responsible for violent robberies targeting high-end vehicle drivers, a case being handled by the Judicial Police.
