Government dismisses national director of the PSP, commander of the Special Police Unit is the successor

The Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, replaced the national director of the PSP José Barros Correia, who had held the position since September 2023.

O Superintendent Luís Carrilho, current commander of the Special Police Unit (UEP), will be his successor.

According to Expresso, this change comes at a time when the new Government intends to make a “new team, new projects” and “bringing another boost” to PSP.

Luís Carrilho is considered by sources linked to the new executive to have the appropriate profile to “achieve a resizing of the PSP device, in operational terms, mainly due to the need to reinforce proximity policing, reinforce security in urban centers and plan real investment in equipment and facilities”.

Expresso asked several police sources whether the change was related to the operation in Porto that led to the arrest of one person and the identification of five others on suspicion of racism in attacks on Maghrebi immigrants. But the responses were unanimously negative.

In a statement, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reveals that “this appointment decision comes within the scope of the operational restructuring of the Public Security Policeboth at the national level and at the level of institutional and international representation of this public security force”.

The Government ends the statement with a note of thanks to the outgoing national director, José Barros Correia on his “institutional elevation, the
professionalism and selfless dedication to the public service mission he developed”.

In between, MAI lists the professional and academic career of Luís Carrilho, who worked as Head of the Security Service and Security Officer of the President of the Republic of PortugalCommander of the Personal Security Corps of the Public Security Police, Chief of Staff of the Director of the Institute of Police Sciences.

Carrilho also served as United Nations Police Commander in three peacekeeping operations: in the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) from 2014 to 2016, in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) from 2013 to 2014, and in the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste ( UNMIT) from
2009 to 2012.