Moreira disagrees with Moedas’ proposal to give municipal police power to make arrests
The Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, said this Saturday that he disagrees with his Lisbon counterpart’s proposal for the Municipal Police to be able to make arrests, arguing that overlapping criminal investigation powers “does not solve the problem” of security.
“I understand that the criminal investigation bodies must be those provided for by law, the PSP, GNR and Judiciary Police. I understand that this competence does not make any sense to pass on to the Municipal Police”, stated Rui Moreira, on a visit to the new Parque da Alameda de Cartes, in the parish of Campanhã.
Asked about the order given by the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, to the Municipal Police to start detaining suspected criminals in the city, Rui Moreira considered that the overlapping of powers “creates entropy, distrust and does not solve the problem”.
“If we want to have more security, we need more visibility for the PSP and more PSP staff. Anything that involves trying to pass skills from one side to the other, in my opinion, doesn’t make sense”, he said.
The independent mayor also noted that the law “cannot be changed either by an interpretation by the president of the chamber”, nor even by the minister responsible for the area of internal security.
“This is a matter that only the Assembly of the Republic can change and I am not in favor of change, other than small adjustments, which are necessary because it is a law that is 20 years old, but starting to carry out criminal investigations in the Municipal Police in my opinion is contrary,” he added.
Municipal police can now detain suspects of prison crimes
To journalists, Rui Moreira also stated that in the exercise of their duties, the Municipal Police may detain a citizen who has been seen committing a crime punishable by imprisonment.
“In fact, we can do it too, but it is easier for a municipal police officer to do it because they have police training. There is no doubt about this matter. The Municipal Police is an administrative, supervisory body, which represents the competencies of the PSP and does other things that the PSP failed to do, for example, solving the traffic problem”, he noted.
On Monday, in an interview with SIC, the president of Lisbon City Council, Carlos Moedas, stated that he had ordered the Municipal Police to start detaining criminal suspects in the city, an indication he said he had already given more than a year ago.
On the sidelines of the inauguration of the new creative technologies learning center TUMO Lisboa, Carlos Moedas clarified to journalists that arrests made by the Municipal Police are dependent on the PSP and insisted on the need to clarify the law so that this function can be shared.
“The Municipal Police are on the streets and, if there is a crime, the Municipal Police — who, I repeat, are public security police — have to act. I gave this indication to the commander and I can say that, in Lisbon, every day there is There have been these types of arrests, but, obviously, then you have to call the PSP”, said Carlos Moedas, confirming that the order given to the Municipal Police to start detaining criminal suspects was given to the commander more than a year ago.
The office of the Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, said that the powers invoked by the Mayor of Lisbon regarding the Municipal Police “are provided for in the applicable law”.
