More than 60 members of the community attended a crime prevention seminar at the Silves Municipal Library on Wednesday last week.
The event, held in English and Portuguese, was organised by Safe Communities Algarve with the support of the GNR and the British Consulate.
During the two-hour seminar, Captain Ricardo Bailote, Commander of GNR Silves, Captain Marco Henriques Commander of GNR Albuferia, British Consul Clive Jewell, Vice Consul Angela Morado and David Thomas, founder of Safe Communities Algarve, formed a panel covering different topics related to crime prevention.
The presentations were followed by a question and answer session, with various issues addressed such as reporting crime, dealing with intruders, action at the scene of road accidents, communication with the GNR and burglaries.
During the presentation, Karen Conaty, an Albufeira resident, praised GNR Captain Marco Henriques for writing to her personally following reports she had made of anti-social behaviour and drug taking in her area.
Another resident Gabi Koplin, representing a large property management company in Albufeira, presented Captain Henriques with a letter praising the Safe Residence Programme and the professionalism of GNR officers.
A number of people at the event also complimented Captain Bailote for “an excellent presentation in English”.
Seminar organiser David Thomas said that he was now dealing with a number of requests from the GNR and municipalities to organise further seminars in other areas of the Algarve.
He added that he was encouraged by the fact that some 360 people had attended the four seminars held since July, showing considerable interest in the subject.
