Inspectorate received 1,436 complaints against police actions and PSP is the most targeted – Portugal

The General Inspectorate of Internal Administration (IGAI) received 1,436 complaints against the actions of the security forces last year, an identical number to 2022, with the PSP being the most targeted police.

Data from the body that oversees police activity, to which the Lusa agency had access, show that between 2017 and 2022 the number of complaints increased, having doubled in six years from 772 to 1,436, however last year the complaints were the same as those in 2022.

According to IGAI, the PSP is the security force with the highest number of complaints, having received 616 reports against the actions of Public Security Police agents in 2023, followed by the Republican National Guard, with 412, and the former Foreigners and Borders Service, with 163.

Most of the complaints that reached the IGAI in 2023 were complaints filed by citizens, totaling 753, with 263 reports from judicial entities, 192 from the General Directorate of Reinsertion and Prison Services and 11 from private and public entities.

According to IGAI, almost half (43%) of the complaints against the performance of security forces were related to the violation of duties of conduct (incorrect procedures or behavior), with a total of 608 complaints filed, of which 276 were directed to elements from the PSP, 175 to GNR military personnel and 140 to inspectors from the former SEF, which was abolished on October 29, 2023.

Offenses to physical integrity were the second most common type of complaint filed in 2023, corresponding to 24.3% of the total number of reports against the actions of the police (349), followed by matters of an internal or professional nature, 72 complaints.

IGAI also received 23 complaints last year related to discriminatory practices, eight of which against PSP agents, nine more than in 2022.

The body led by judge Anabela Cabral Ferreira highlights that there was no record last year of “illegal arrests” and only one situation of “death” at the hands of the police.

The IGAI, supervised by the Ministry of Internal Administration, also indicates that in 2023, 1,436 administrative processes were initiated (total complaints), which, together with those carried over from the previous year, 1,855 processes were processed and 1,547 were concluded and four were converted into processes of a disciplinary.

IGAI’s mission is to carry out audits, inspections and supervision of all entities, services and bodies supervised by MAI.