Big Brother in the form of CCTV street cameras is about to start moving in on the Algarve.
Tabloid Correio da Manhã reports that by the end of this year, systems should be up and running in Portimão, Olhão and Faro.
Olhão is reported to be taking the lead and forging ahead with its own municipal police force, too.
The first phase, says mayor António Pina, will involve six to eight ‘police agents’.
Numbers could reach 12, he added, saying the motive behind a homegrown force lies in “wanting to make people feel safer”.
This is the basic reasoning for the installation of CCTV cameras, he added.
The cost for the 24 cameras – to be sighted in the town’s main avenues of 5 de Outubro and da República and in Rua do Comércio – will cost “around €65,000” and be in place by the end of the year.
The council has reached the stage of getting quotes from potential suppliers, whereas Portimão has yet to decide on how many cameras it wants and will then open the way to tenders, says CM.
Mayoress Isilda Gomes is quoted as saying that the ‘first phase’ will be to install cameras in Praia da Rocha, with the option to expand coverage over time.
In Faro’s case it’s a question of reviving an old plan for CCTV coverage in the ‘party area’ of the historic quarter. The plan had to be shelved, says the paper, due to an alteration in data protection laws.
In all three cases, the CCTV cameras will beam live images through to PSP police.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
