“In 2010, we had eight thousand police officers, today, in 2024, there will be 6,700 in Lisbon. This cannot work because the city of 2010 is not the city of 2024”, he warned, adding that he made the request for an increase in police personnel to both the previous and current Government.
He said he currently has 400 municipal police officers, but the number could be up to 600.
“I asked for 200, because I can only recruit municipal police officers from the Civil Police, and they gave me 25. It's not enough. We need a lot more police”, he argued.
He recalled that the Municipal Police is a police force that guarantees the safety of Lisbon residents and that they also have to act in this field, and cannot be “just an administrative police force”.
“Every day I am in contact with the Lisbon police commander, every day I report the cases to him and every day I ask for more reinforcement, but this is a political decision that has to be taken. We need more police officers in Lisbon and this is evident to all of us”, said Carlos Moedas.