Magina da Silva, national director of the PSP, defended, this Wednesday, June 14, in Faro, which is «fundamental to overcome some of the traumas of the Estado Novo and Big Brother» and «incorporate video surveillance as a public security tool». The Minister of Internal Administration listened and also agreed that it is necessary to "make the whole process more agile".
The building of the Algarve Tourism Board received, this morning, the traditional presentation of the “Algarve Seguro” program which, once again, provides for a reinforcement of PSP, GNR, SEF, INEM and Civil Protection resources for the region during the peak season of tourism.
The moment was attended by the chief superintendent Manuel Magina da Silva, national director of the PSP, who took the opportunity to talk about the importance of video surveillance for the security of the country, giving as an example the attacks on a young Nepalese, last February, in Olhão.
«The video surveillance system was more than sufficient to identify the perpetrators. If it weren't for this system, we wouldn't have been able to identify the perpetrators of the attacks so quickly and unequivocally", he said.
In addition to Olhão, Portimão is one of the two municipalities in the Algarve that already have this system installed, in this case in Praia da Rocha. Faro will also have shortly (the contract was awarded in March), as well as Vilamoura.
But the current barriers are a barrier to which more municipalities move forward, in Magina da Silva's opinion.
«The installation process we have is frustrating, it results from the law, but it is a bit kafkaesque, with several players with different views, namely the Data Protection Commission. There is a lot of matter to improve», he defended.
«It is difficult to explain to a mayor who is willing to bet on video surveillance that, if everything goes well, in two years the process will be completed», he added.
It is that, in the view of the national director of the PSP, «we cannot have a policeman on every corner, but we can have a camera on every corner and a policeman looking at all the cameras».
Questioned by journalists, the Minister of Internal Administration also defended that it is necessary to "further develop video surveillance models", also incorporating "alarm systems" that allow "to give an early warning when there are elements that may indicate risk".
As for the process, Minister José Luís Carneiro agreed that it has to be "more agile".
«It is not possible to wait two, three years for a definitive order to have the territory with the greatest security capacity. It is a job that has to be done by all institutions. We will try to unlock what are our competences», guaranteed the government official.
With regard to Algarve Seguro, the minister said he expects the summer to be… «safe in the region».
«That's what we all work for: National Road and Safety Authority, Civil Protection, Firefighters, GNR, PSP, SEF, everyone planned the work. What the Government did was mobilize and reinforce resources at an operational level and what we want is that this work now has the results we all want», he said.
Moreover, the experience of “Algarve Seguro”, a program that has been running for some years, has given such good results that it will be extended to other regions, such as Lisbon, Porto and some beaches in the rest of the country.
In practice, what will happen is a reinforcement of «proximity and visibility patrolling» also in these locations, until «mid-September», under a cooperation agreement between PSP and GNR.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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