The PSP announced today that it will reinforce security at the airports of Lisbon, Porto, Azores, and Madeira in July with more police officers. In Faro, the need for more security agents was already anticipated.
A source from the Public Security Police told Lusa that in July the training course for 500 new agents ends, at that time all the district commands of the PSP will be reinforced and some of the new police officers will be placed in the airport security and border control divisions of Lisbon, Porto, Madeira and Azores airports.
Last week, new border control systems were installed at Portuguese airports, which is causing thousands of passengers from countries outside the Schengen Area to wait several hours for immigration control.
On Tuesday, the Union Association of Police Professionals (ASPP/PSP) warned of the exhaustion of professionals assigned to the Foreigners and Borders Unit due to various situations experienced at airports, having drawn attention to the fact that with the approach of summer, steps are needed to “overcome obstacles and mitigate damage to citizens, but mainly with PSP professionals.”
The union structure highlights the operational constraints that translate daily into long delays and huge queues, a situation that the structure considers “unbearable for the normal functioning of employees.”
In the response sent to Lusa, the national directorate of the PSP states that the implementation of the new European border control system “has numerous challenges” and “requires new technologies, training and more human resources,” admitting that “all police officers who are at the air border receive the brunt of these changes.”
“This effort that is being required in terms of workload in this transition phase will only be mitigated with the investment in training border police, better technologies, and working conditions. This is the commitment in this transition phase. But at the same time, we are investing in training, training more resources and more technological capabilities for a more efficient and effective border,” states a PSP source.
The PSP highlights that the national leadership “recognises and values very clearly the effort and dedication of the police officers who, on the ground, have been fulfilling their mission with a high sense of responsibility, often going beyond what is required of them, demonstrating a strong spirit of mission and an unwavering commitment to public service.”
The PSP also indicates that it has been closely monitoring the situation at airports and has been, in conjunction with the ASPP management and other representative structures, to find solutions that allow us to mitigate the constraints identified and improve the working conditions of professionals.”
Last week, the Internal Security System (SSI) announced that the implementation of the new ‘VIS4EES’, ‘Pass+’, and ‘Border Portal’ systems at air and sea borders at a European level has been successfully completed.
The SSI also said that there were no “significant impacts on waiting times compared to usual.”
After the statement from the largest PSP union alerted to the situation at the airports, Lusa contacted the SSI, but as yet, has not received a response.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
