According to Expresso, corruption crimes increased by 30% in 2023, as did the number of political office holders accused of suspected corruption and malfeasance crimes, which rose from around 30, in 2022, to 50, in 2023.
The Government admitted this Friday a “worrying increase” in some types of crimes in 2023 compared to the previous year, anticipating the need for “changes to strategic guidelines” for this year, to be included in the Internal Security Report, still being prepared.
In a statement sent this Friday, regarding the Annual Internal Security Report (RASI) 2023, the Ministry of Internal Administration said that the executive was aware of the document at the beginning of the week, and in which “it noted a worrying increase in some types of registered crimes”.
“As a result, the Government understood that it was necessary to introduce some changes to the strategic guidelines for the current year, in line with the Government’s program. These are being prepared and will be integrated into the final version of the RASI to be approved by the Superior Internal Security Council, after which will be delivered to the Assembly of the Republic for consideration”, reads the statement.
The newspaper ‘Expresso’ reported on Wednesday night that RASI 2023 points to an increase in the crime of human trafficking and the growing violence of criminal networks, stating that aid to illegal immigration worries the police, especially in sectors such as agriculture and football.
Also according to ‘Expresso’, corruption crimes increased by 30% in 2023, as did the number of political office holders accused of suspected crimes of corruption and malfeasance, which rose from around 30 in 2022 to 50 in 2023.
Lusa contacted the office of the secretary general of the Internal Security System, who stated that RASI 2023 is not yet in the public domain, as it is still being concluded, and may receive contributions from the various security forces that provide it until the end of the month. data for its preparation.
Lusa also contacted the Ministry of Internal Administration about the 2023 RASI, which responded that the document is not yet completed and must be approved at a meeting of the Superior Council for Internal Security.
Lusa reported at the end of March that crimes recorded by Portuguese police increased by around 8% last year compared to 2022 and reached the highest values in 10 years, totaling 371,995, according to statistics from the Directorate-General for Justice Policy.
The annual statistical highlight, published on the website of the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ), indicates that the number of crimes recorded by police authorities in 2023 was 371,995, 28,150 more than in 2022, when there were 343,845 crimes .
Statistics also show that since 2013, when 376,403 occurred, there have not been as many crimes recorded in Portugal as in 2023.
The DGPJ states that crimes against property represented around 51.0% of the total (189,657 crimes), followed by crimes against people, which corresponded to around 24.4% of the total (90,840 crimes) and crimes against life in society, which represented 11.9% of the total (44,439 crimes).
The type of crime that rose the most last year were those committed against the State (up 16.9%), which went from 6,559 in 2022 to 7,713 in 2023, followed by those against cultural identity/personal integrity (up 9.6% ), which totaled 367, while in 2022 there were 289.
Justice statistics also reveal that crimes against people increased by 5.8% and crimes against property rose by 7.6%. The police recorded another 424 crimes against life in society, for a total of 44,439 in 2023.
The most frequent crimes in 2023 were “domestic violence against spouses or similar” (26,041), followed by driving under the influence of alcohol (24,133), offenses against physical integrity (24,111), theft in a motor vehicle (20,180), computer fraud and in communications (20,259), threats and coercion (16,676) and driving without a legal license (15,579).
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