Regional Government joins Legislative Assembly in search for solutions for security measures in the Region - Communication

Secretaria Regional dos Assuntos Parlamentares e Comunidades

The Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities, Paulo Estêvão, assured today that the Regional Government will actively monitor and support the Legislative Assembly in analysing and demanding a new security model for the archipelago, rejecting any disregard for the State's powers in this matter.

In his speech at the plenary session, during a debate on the creation of a working group proposed by the PPM party, Paulo Estêvão stressed that Autonomy confers the right and duty to take action, under the Political and Administrative Statute.

"The Regional Government is fully supportive and stands alongside the Azorean Parliament in providing all the information and cooperation necessary to identify areas for improvement," he said.

The government official stressed the urgency of this joint effort, highlighting the significant gap between policing resources in the Azores and those in Mainland Portugal.

In Mainland Portugal, the Public Security Police (PSP) has jurisdiction over only 6% of the territory, whereas in the Azores, the PSP is responsible for policing both urban and rural areas.

This asymmetry means that the Autonomous Region of the Azores alone accounts for 42% of the territorial responsibility of the PSP at a national level, within a territory marked by extreme geographical dispersion.

Despite this overload, Paulo Estêvão pointed out that the police contingent deployed to the Region has not been increased accordingly.

The situation has recently worsened with the assignment of 138 police officers – among a regional total of just over 900 – to the new National Foreigners and Borders Unit, reducing the number of officers available for community policing.

The Regional Secretary warned that this model, combined with a lack of human resources, prevents the concentration of police forces in municipalities where crime is on the rise, emphasising that the population's perception of insecurity corresponds, in fact, to the reality of the figures.

For the Azorean Government, the response "cannot be limited to simply stating that security is a matter falling within the remit of the National Government."

The priority shared between the Government and Members of Parliament will be the study, analysis, assessment and collection of data from experts and entities in the field, with a view to building a strong, pluralistic and well-founded regional position to demand structural changes from the State.