The Public Security Police (PSP) will develop, from Monday until Friday, an operation to prevent juvenile delinquency, the possession and use of weapons and violence in schools, this security force announced today.
Nationwide, the operation “Violence? Not Today, Thanks!” is aimed at students in the 3rd cycle of basic education and secondary education, informed the PSP, noting that this initiative is associated with the School Day of Non-Violence and Peace, which is celebrated on January 30th (Tuesday).
According to the police, this operation is now in its 2nd edition and “has three main objectives: preventing juvenile delinquency, the possession and use of weapons and violence in schools”.
In a statement, the PSP said that it is responsible “for the security of the 3.100 public, private and cooperative educational establishments located in its area of responsibility, as well as more than 900.000 students and 150.000 teaching and non-teaching staff”.
The 1st edition of this operation took place in 2023, the year in which “there was an increase in generic police inspection actions and, specifically, in the school context”, in response to “a change in behavioral patterns observed during the pandemic period”, pointed out the PSP.
In the 2021/2022 school year, the PSP recorded 77 incidents related to the possession and/or use of weapons by young people in a school context, in which eight firearms, 63 bladed weapons and nine weapons of other types were used.
Carrying out the operation “Violence? Not Today, Thanks!” It was the motto for the police attached to the Safe School Program, for a week, to carry out 384 awareness-raising actions, “which reached 10.689 students”, revealed this security force, taking stock of the 1st edition.
“This contributed to the fact that, in the 2022/2023 school year, there were only 34 incidents related to the possession and/or use of weapons by young people, which translates into a decrease of 55,8% in incidents”, highlighted the PSP.
In these incidents, a firearm, 27 bladed weapons and seven weapons of other types were used, which, according to the police, means that “compared to the previous school year (2021/2022) there was a large decrease in the number of incidents with possession/use of weapons (-87,5% with firearms, -57,1% with bladed weapons and -22,1% with other weapons)”.
During the 2022/2023 academic year, the Safe School Program recorded 3.682 incidents, of which 2.611 were criminal in nature and 1.071 were non-criminal in nature, said the PSP, explaining that, in line with previous years, the most reported incidents were assaults ( 1.191) and insults and threats (799).
According to the police, the number of incidents in the 2022/2023 academic year “are higher than those recorded in the previous academic year, but lower than the pre-pandemic years” of Covid-19.
In the 2022/2023 academic year, the Safe School Program teams carried out 10.809 awareness-raising actions, with the participation of 562.084 people, complemented by 74.919 individual crime prevention contacts.
The topics most worked on by these teams were bullying and cyberbullying (6.136 actions with a reach of 118.775 students), prevention and road safety (2.813 actions with a reach of 56.612 students) and child safety (2.445 actions with a reach of 54.498 students), said PSP.
Police officers assigned to the Safe School Program teams are present and available to receive reports, advise and support victims, their families and the entire school community, recalled the PSP, adding that reports can be made, either in person at a police station from PSP, or via email [email protected].
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