Algarve PSP police chief Ricardo Matos has been relieved of his duties midway a three-year tenure due to “public disagreement shown by various regional mayors”, writes Correio da Manhã today (Tuesday).
The issue centres on Matos saying he did “not understand the advantages of local security contracts for the PSP” – preferring to concentrate on improving performance of regional stations. Matos’ new job is deputy director of the PSP’s training academy, says the paper.
Matos has told regional website Sulinformação that the news took him “by surprise”, and that he will be sad to leave the Algarve.
Sulinformação cited various improvements that Matos felt he had managed over the 20 months of his tenure, in which incidents of violent crimes fell by 6%.
Perhaps the most significant improvements were the drafting in of outside agents from June until September (instead of just the months of July and August), and the setting up of weekend police patrols ‘out on the streets’.
