Proximity policing and bolstered police numbers will provide tourists to the Algarve with a greater sense of safety and security this summer, said the Minister of Internal Affairs during a visit to the region last week.
Miguel Macedo said the number of PSP and GNR officers to patrol the main tourist hotspots, such as Albufeira and Praia da Rocha, would be increased significantly.
Last Friday, 30 officers from the Lisbon based GNR Intervention Unit arrived in the Algarve and a further two PSP intervention teams, totalling 26 men, are expected to reinforce police presence.
The minister said both the PSP and GNR forces had previously met with several entities in the region to discuss summer safety and thus ensure the effectiveness of proximity policing.
Miguel Macedo also confirmed that provisional data point to a reduction in criminality in the Algarve in the first quarter of 2012.
From the beginning of the year until the end of May, PSP in the Algarve have recorded a 10.9% decrease in the number of violent crime cases and criminality in general was down 17.8%.
