The mayor of Porto did not know that the Infanta PSP police station would only be open from Saturday to today from 4pm, he wanted to be “warned” before the announcement and said he would ask the government questions.
Rui Moreira reacted this Sunday in Luce’s statements to a notice posted at a police station in the center of Porto saying that “for operational reasons, civil service is suspended until 4:00 pm.”
“I was completely surprised. After all, today I spoke with the commander [da Polícia Municipal do Porto] Leitao da Silva and I tried to ask him if he knew anything, and he [respondeu que] knew nothing. This situation worries me very much,” the mayor said.
And he continued: “Temporarily closing a police station is always bad, but this one … The nearest police stations are Geroismo in Bonfime, and the other, as far as I know, Sedofeita. The PSP itself considers this to be the most vulnerable area of the city, and this is precisely what justifies, for example, the choice made regarding video surveillance, if we know, for example, for those who visit us, that the loss of documents can force them to go through the police station in order to to be able to travel, we are very concerned about the population, as this is the most vulnerable place.”
Insisting that “you don’t understand very well, because if there was a police station that could not close, then this was it,” Rui Moreira is also critical of the little information available, because, reading the public notice “You don’t know until what time it will run, whether it will be at night or not,” he warned.
Therefore, Rui Moreira promises to bring the issue to a public meeting of the executive scheduled for Monday, at the same time, as he confessed shortly afterwards in a conversation with the Minister of the Interior.
“Indeed, we know that there is a big shortage of human resources. We feel it ourselves in the municipal police, we are losing personnel and cannot find PSP agents for vacant positions, we do not have a full contingent at the moment, but the truth is that the City Council of Porto has made great efforts to support the PSP, be it a purchase cars, whether it is video surveillance for which we are going to pay, or in another important issue, for example, the powers of traffic have been transferred to the municipal police, which should facilitate the work of the PSP in terms of safety and security,” recalled the president of the second largest chamber in country.
Considering in this logic that “he should have been informed in advance of the situation”, he reiterated that “the mayor in such a matter should be informed (…) and the population should be informed”, and that this is not done by “posting a notice in police station.”
“I’ll try to talk to the minister [José Luís Carneiro]I don’t want to bother you on Sunday, if only because the decision has been made, but I’m sure that on Monday, after the executive meeting, I’ll try to talk to the minister or the secretary of state. [Isabel Oneto] who, moreover, is a person whom he knows well and who was a civil governor, so he knows it better than anyone,” he said.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
