Crime – believe it or not – is at a record low in Portugal, with the lowest levels of criminal activity registered over the last two years.
This gem – as national tabloid Correio da Manhã reported that crimes of religious art from churches are now a new scourge – came during the 104th anniversary celebrations of the GNR last weekend.
Minister for Internal Administration Anabela Rodrigues told the gathering that “general criminality” dropped 6.7% last year, while “violent and serious crimes” also fell 5.4%.
Taking both 2013 and 2014 into account, Rodrigues said that Portugal was thus registering the lowest number of crimes since records began.
Her revelation nonetheless followed the week that a crazed gunman mowed down four members of his estranged family, and in the wake of endless stories of domestic violence cutting a swathe through Portugal.
Rodrigues told her audience she believes Portugal is on the “right path” and stressed the government’s “significant investment” in security, “especially during a time of budget limitations”.
She added that since 2011 the government had purchased 400 new vehicles, opened or is in the process of opening 52 new infrastructures for security forces and has hired more than 2,000 new GNR agents.
