The Algarve municipalities signed yesterday, Monday, Local Security Contracts (CLS) with the Government. The official signing of the agreement between AMAL – Algarve Intermunicipal Community and the Ministry of Internal Administration was attended by the presidents of most of the Algarve chambers.
This new generation of protocols goes "far beyond the strict sense of security", and already integrates "the premise that crime prevention is not an exclusive action of the security forces", framed the Loulé City Council, host of the ceremony.
Security, in the view of the Minister of Internal Administration Constança Urbano de Sousa, who chaired the session, "has to be coordinated with various government departments and have the involvement of various corporate areas, from education to social action, through work or urbanism".
"It is the combination of all these forces that we can focus on eliminating vulnerabilities in terms of security," added the member of Government, stressing the importance of local power in this equation.
Constança Urbano de Sousa took the opportunity to announce that she will set aside half a million euros for social risks. On the other hand, he warned that the results are not instantaneous, but that they will be felt "in the medium and long term", stressing the importance of the protocols for "a tourist destination of excellence" such as the Algarve.
«It's not just the millions of Portuguese who choose this region as a privileged place for leisure time, but also those who choose to live here. Due to the seasonality of this region, the summer has peaks of great population concentration, which is why [security] is a priority for the State," said the minister.
For Jorge Botelho, president of AMAL, the adhesion of Algarve municipalities to the CLS demonstrates the «will of Algarve municipalities to show, in an unequivocal way, their commitment in terms of safety».
«Several European experiences have been pointing out that security, when thought and intervened at a local level, can add more value to national security because, being closer to the events and facts that can potentially generate or constitute greater threats to security, it acts preventively , and may even function as a field of good practices», considered, on the other hand, the mayor of Loulé Vítor Aleixo.
Following the signing of the CLS, a Local Safety Diagnosis was drawn up, «with the aim of seeing the specificities of each of the municipalities. An intervention plan will then be formulated to implement the measures and monitor and evaluate them, adapting them as the results are achieved».
"In this new organizational model, the mayor will have an important role in that he will chair the Coordinating Commission, which also includes the security forces and a representative of the Interministerial Commission (responsible for monitoring and evaluation)", according to the Chamber of Loule.
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