The national director of PSP, Magina da Silva, said yesterday, in Coimbra, that Portugal still has a lot of work to do in the area of video surveillance, which he considered the right way to fight crime.
«I usually say that we have to overcome the ghosts of the 'big-brother'. We cannot have a policeman on every corner and we never will, but we can have cameras on several corners to be seen by a policeman », he stressed.
Magina da Silva, who was speaking to journalists after the inauguration of the Quadrilheiros roundabout, in front of the Coimbra command, said she had no doubts that the country still has "a lot of work to do [in video surveillance] compared to other countries"-
According to the national director, in many countries the «video surveillance tool is part of the very concept of policing by the security forces».
Yesterday afternoon, Magina da Silva, accompanied by the commander of the Coimbra PSP, Rui Moura, and the mayor of Coimbra José Manuel Silva, inaugurated the toponymic plaque “Rotunda dos Quadrilheiros”, at the intersection between Avenida Elísio de Moura and Rua Bento de Jesus Caraça.
The quadrilheiros, created by King D. Fernando, were the agents responsible for urban public security in each municipality of Portugal until the beginning of the XNUMXth century, with the mission of arresting criminals and handing them over to the judicial authorities.
For the national director, «more than a name on the roundabout, it is a sign of recognition, in this case of the local government, for the work that [the PSP] does with the fellow citizens it serves».
Questioned by journalists about the corporation's human and material resources, the chief superintendent, who was reappointed in January, stressed that the means are never necessary and guaranteed that the Government is giving "all possible support".
«We would always like to have more means and better equipment, but a very large investment effort has been made in security forces and services, which is phased and does not immediately satisfy all our needs», he said.
The mayor of Coimbra considered that the initiative is a "fair tribute to the PSP and to the men and women who do their best for safety, sometimes putting their own lives at risk".
«It is also a way of remembering the past, our history and our culture», underlined José Manuel Silva.
The initiative, which has been replicated in other parts of the country, aimed at recognizing the police activity of the PSP and the police, came from the national direction of the PSP, but counts on the collaboration of the municipalities to integrate the toponymy.
Also this afternoon, the “Rotunda dos Quadrilheiros” was inaugurated in Figueira da Foz, at the intersection between Avenida Dr. Joaquim de Carvalho and Rua Dr. Mira Coelho, with the presence of the national director of the PSP.
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