Eduardo Cabrita was speaking at the closing ceremony of the third training course for PSP chiefs, at the premises of the Police Practice School (EPP), in Torres Novas, Santarém district.


The minister announced that the fourth course for a further 200 chiefs, who in 2020 will join the 199 who have already graduated, are in the candidate selection phase, representing “the largest reinforcement of this class within the police ever”.


“It is very important to invest in physical infrastructure, vehicles, weapons, personal protective equipment and technological instruments”, which continues under the Investment Programming Law, but “investing in the human factor is the essential element,” he declared.


For the minister, the international recognition of Portugal as a safe country, evident in the passage from 2014 to 2019, from 18th to 3rd “safest country in the world”, in the classification of the Global Peace Index, is a reason for “pride for the Portuguese, but it owes much to the work of those who serve Portugal as part of the PSP”.


Eduardo Cabrita also stated that, as part of the focus on training within the PSP, 600 new agents are being trained at EPP, “an increase of 50 percent over last year’s course”, in which 400 new agents were trained.