The Municipal Council of Setúbal submitted to the Municipal Assembly a proposal for the creation of the Municipal Police, a public proximity and community policing force with an initial strength of at least 40 operational agents, to be recruited progressively and in phases. The approved proposal highlights that the Municipal Police will exclusively assume enforcement of municipal ordinances, local regulations and urban traffic, freeing the PSP and GNR for direct crime fighting.
The territory of the municipality of Setúbal extends over 230.33 square kilometers, with a complex morphology that includes consolidated urban fabric, industrial zones and protected natural heritage. In the last decade, the municipality has undergone a profound demographic, urban and tourist transformation, establishing itself as one of the main centralities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, with significant floating population and increased challenges in environmental, commercial and parking enforcement, particularly during the summer season.
The competences of the Municipal Police include enforcement in the domains of urban planning, construction, nature defense and environment, cultural heritage, hunting resources, parking and road traffic, preparation of administrative offense reports, environmental and mortuary police actions, and the detention of crime suspects in cases of flagrant delicto. The criminal investigation and public order competences of State security forces remain intact.
The economic-financial study concludes that the project is economically viable, with a positive margin of 8%, which may increase to nearly 22% with the inclusion of security increase benefits. The expenditure associated with the creation of the service is offset by the progressive transfer of competences from current enforcement services and the increase of revenue from procedure fees. The proposal was approved following a favorable opinion from the Municipal Security Council and public consultation without contributions from interested parties.
