VIOLENT CRIME in Greater Lisbon fell by 30 per cent in the first half of 2007 compared to the same period last year.
It is the biggest reduction in four years according to the Lisbon PSP Metropolitan Command (Comando Metropolitano de Lisboa PSP).
Overall, crime plummeted by 9.8 per cent in Greater Lisbon between January and June this year.
According to the Portuguese news agency Lusa, the Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP) classifies violent crime as murder, manslaughter, grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm, kidnapping, imprisonment and the holding of hostages, rape, aggravated burglary or theft, and extortion.
Lisbon’s PSP Commandant Oliveira Pereira believes that this fall in serious crime in Greater Lisbon is a direct result of increased police operations up by 95.5 per cent in the first six months of 2007, which also resulted in an increase in detentions by 8.7 per cent.
Denunciations
Superintendent Oliveira Pereira told Lusa that an increase in violent crime in 2006 by 23.6 per cent was related to an increase in denunciations to police by members of the general public, particularly violent domestic crime denunciations.
This was largely because of the success of nationwide publicity campaigns by both police and anti-domestic violence groups.
Paula Monteiro, the Deputy Commissioner responsible for the Public Relations, Planning and Studies Nucleus (Núcleo de Estudos, Planeamento e Relações Públicas) and Commandant for the PSP’s Tourism Police Station (Esquadra de Turismo da PSP) stressed: “Changes in the law have made it possible for us to carry out various actions including making sure that an aggressive person is kept away from a former home with people at risk. “The victims understand that things have changed, that there’s a call for the public to denounce such domestic violence crimes, and this has helped contribute to a reduction in crimes committed since the perpetrators know they are less likely to get away with it.”
According to statistics, general crime in the first half of 2004 rose by 4.1 per cent, fell by 13 per cent in 2005, and shot up again by 7.1 per cent in 2006. With regard to violent crime, that soared by 16.1 per cent in 2004, fell by 6.9 per cent in 2005 and sky rocketed by 23.6 per cent in 2006.
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