The Government authorized the renewal of the use of the video surveillance system in Bairro Alto, in Lisbon, consisting of 27 cameras, for a period of three years. The order was published in the Official Gazette and signed by the Secretary of State for Internal Administration, Telmo Correia.
The video surveillance system began operating on May 22, 2014, and has been subject to successive renewals, previously for two-year periods. The National Directorate of the Public Security Police filed the new renewal request, basing it on the maintenance of the assumptions that determined the initial authorization and on the fact that Bairro Alto constitutes one of the busiest areas of the city, where crimes of various kinds occur, from petty crime to violent and serious crime.
At a Lisbon Municipal Assembly meeting, Councilor Joana Baptista mentioned that there are currently 126 video surveillance cameras in operation: 27 in Bairro Alto, 32 in Campo das Cebolas, 30 in Cais do Sodré, 17 in Restauradores and 20 in Ribeira das Naus. The city council wants to sign a second protocol with the PSP to install an additional 500 cameras in the areas of Parque das Nações, Almirante Reis and Avenida da Liberdade, with an investment of 12 million euros.
The next phase, according to Joana Baptista, is the installation of 116 cameras in Baixa Pombalina and Santa Apolónia, with an investment of 3.5 million euros to be included in the municipal budget between 2027 and 2028, which includes interventions at the 1st Police Station and the Metropolitan Command of Lisbon of the PSP.
