Formal complaints over the actions of PSP police have “skyrocketed” over the last two years, reports tabloid Correio da Manhã today, citing a case this month where an agent entrusted with a lost wallet removed all the money from it.
The agent – now suspended from service and facing disciplinary proceedings – was recorded on CCTV cameras.
The incident happened “about two weeks ago” in Lisbon airport, says the paper.
A passenger reported the wallet stolen – and it was found some hours later by a security guard employed by a private company.
The guard handed it over to the first PSP agent he saw, says CM – and shortly afterwards, the agent, “in a public place in the airport covered by various CCTV cameras – opened the wallet up, removed the money (300 euros) and put it in his pocket”.
He then “went through all the motions” of returning the wallet to its owner “without making any reference to the money”.
Much later, with his wallet back in his possession, the passenger “straight away noticed the money was gone and presented a complaint against persons unknown”.
It was only after this that the PSP opened a formal investigation which finally turned up the incriminating CCTV footage.
The suspended agent is now facing a theft charge and may be dropped from the service altogether. But the incident has been put in the context of complaints against PSP agents in general.
CM claims that these have skyrocketed even though the majority end up being archived.
In 2016, 2,226 complaints were made against PSP agents.
In 2017 40 were suspended for disciplinary issues, and a further 23 were dropped from the service, while 160 received fines.
Already for 2018 3,429 complaints have been made, says the paper – the theft of €300 from a lost wallet being just one of them.
