Year: 2019

Please be aware if you are travelling in Europe

Hit by an intense heat wave, which will last until at least the weekend, most of the countries of Europe, from Spain to Sweden and Germany, passing through France, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Switzerland, are recording record temperatures , with thermometers over 40 degrees Celsius at various places.

However in Portugal, temperatures are below average for the season, with some cloud and occasional showers.

One of the factors determining this is that a mass of hot air, coming from the Sahara desert, is being pushed far north by the wind, scorching all those countries unaccustomed to such temperatures.

In Portugal, on the contrary, is under the influence of a depression, which has remained in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, bringing with it the cloudiness and precipitation. This depression prevents the mass of hot air from the African desert from reaching here.

The other countries in Europe cannot say the same, starting in Spain, already here, where forecasts point to very high temperatures, above average for the season, in the whole territory, except for Galicia and Asturias. In some Spanish cities, thermometers may reach 44 or 45 degrees Celsius.

In anticipation of high temperatures, alerts have been made in the different countries to European citizens for special care with heat. In France, which still has in memory about 15 thousand dead there recorded during 2003, many schools in the region of Paris cancelled classes and sent the children home. The final examinations, which were scheduled for this week, were also cancelled and postponed for the first week of July.

French and German weather services have warned of the possibility of new temperature records in some of their cities, which can reach 40 degrees Celsius, levels never before registered at this time of year. “It’s an unprecedented situation because it’s happening very early in June,” said Emmanuel Demael of the French meteorological agency, quoted in the European press.

“The situation on the continent is being conditioned by a depression located northwest of the Iberian Peninsula,” said the the meteorologist Ricardo Tavares. “It is this depression that brings, in frontal waves, the rain and cloudiness that have characterized the last days,” stresses the expert.

To compete for this situation, the Azores anticyclone is at this time more weakened and located far to the south, thus allowing the passage of this depression to the Portuguese mainland. “It is not very frequent at this time of year, but sometimes it happens,” notes Ricardo Tavares, noting that early summer in 2018 was also very similar.

 

 

Eduardo Cabrita, the minister of Internal Administration, outlined on Saturday 22^nd June the program to ensure the necessary resources to guarantee public safety in the Algarve region, as well as cope with the expected fires.

“What we will have over the summer is a boost in resources that allows us to say that we are prepared for a safe Algarve. We are prepared with an additional presence of means from the PSP, the GNR and a reinforcement of the SEF presence at Faro Airport, “said Eduardo Cabrita.

Safe Communities Portugal were in attendance at the announcement made as part of the Safe Summer event held at Regional Tourism Algarve Headquarters in Faro.

Regarding Civil Protection and the protection of the forest against fires, “given the characteristics of our forest and climate change, we must be aware that risk requires that priority be given to prevention, forest clearing and in programs such as the “Safe Village, Safe Persons”.

“We will certainly have fires. What happened, especially here in the Algarve last year, is that absolute priority has been given to safeguarding human life. We have tested mechanisms to support the population, with great involvement of municipalities and all institutions in the region”, he added.

In the field of public safety, PSP and GNR, working on the ground, closer to the population, both will have a considerable reinforcements in the summer.

The PSP will be reinforced by 36 teams from the Intervention Corps of the Special Police Unit, which will include a total of 360 men. During the summer, four Prevention and Immediate Response Teams – two in Faro, two in Portimão – and mixed policing teams, made up of PSP agents and counterparts from the Spanish Police and the French National Police, will also be affected during the summer.

The GNR, meanwhile, will have about 200 soldiers for permanent reinforcement, as well as four cinotechnical teams (man and dog) and others as patrols on horseback.

There will also be 500 soldiers posted for the main summer events», with emphasis on the concentration of Faro’s Motoclube and the Candido de Oliveira Super Cup.

Also the GNR will have collaborations with security forces estarngeiras, in this case the Spanish Civil Guard, the Carabinieri of Italy and the Gendarmerie Nationale, of France.

As part of the collaboration the President of Safe Communities Portugal David Thomas and Secretary of State for Internal Administration Isabel Oneto signed a protocol at the event covering several initiatives to help maintain the Algarve as a safe destination.

In the airports there was a 40% increase in the number of staff of the Aliens and Borders Service, while negotiations were still underway between the Government and ANA Airports “to increase the electronic control points” in order to avoid congestion and long queues. Eduardo Cabrita.

Regarding thel Civil Protection Emergency Authority, the four new Permanent Intervention Teams, the fire departments of Alcoutim, Monchique and Portimão, were highlighted, increasing the number of professional teams in the Algarve to nine.

There will also will be stationed permanently in the region an Extended Attack Group, made up of 35 soldiers and seven vehicles.

Meanwhile, four aerial facilities, all of them light helicopters, are already operating in the Algarve. As of July 1, the Loulé heliport will become the temporary home of a heavy-duty helicopter.

This is the reinforcement that the region can count on this summer, although the possibility of further strengthening is open if the situation demands it.

Under the provisions of article 86, paragraph 13, b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Attorney General’s Office and the Judicial Police have issued a statement.

In a criminal investigation involving terrorist crimes, in particular as regards the participation of national citizens in the ranks of the Islamic state, a police operation has been conducted to effect the arrest of an individual suspected of having provided support to combatants of that terrorist organization.

The police action occurred in the early hours of June 16, and a home search was carried out accordingly to the residence where the same person was located.

The citizen is now accused in the United Kingdom for several years, and from there he has developed various activities for the Islamic state, namely as support and facilitator to the movement of other nationals to the territories of Iraq and the north of Syria.

This investigation, which is still ongoing, is essentially limited to those residing in the national territory.

The defendant was present for judicial interrogation on Monday, 17, and the preventive custody measure was ordered.

 

Following the success of the crime prevention awareness display at Mar Shopping in April, another event is planned at the same location for Saturday 22^nd June. It will run from 10.00hrs to 20.00 hrs.

Those participating will be the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) Loulé and Safe Communities Portugal, accompanied for the first time, by the military of the Gendarmerie National from France and the Arma dei Carabinieri from Italy.

The participation of these overseas organisations is part of the GNR “Safe Summer” program, which includes joint patrolling by the military of the Gendarmerie National and the Arma dei Carabinieri at selected tourist locations in the Algarve.

The event has been planned by the GNR, Safe Communities Portugal and the management of Mar Shopping, the latter whom have given great support to this subject.

The theme will again be promoting sound crime prevention practices, to help maintain the Algarve as a safe destination for visitors and well as for residents.

The display will feature, the GNR “Dragoa” (Dragon) mascot which was very popular with children last time and a GNR dog. Safe Communities Portugal will be presenting their updated “Emergency Medical Card” which was developed with the support of the GNR, PSP and INEM.

There will be plenty of leaflets in various languages to take away, and a good opportunity to find out more information concerning safety and security matters.

This event proved very popular with visitors last time so we look forward to seeing everyone.

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In a statement on 14^th June, Parliament’s Observatory calls on Civil Protection to rethink a decision that will draw a lot of autonomy from key fighters in fighting large fires.

The Independent Technical Observatory of the Assembly of the Republic for forest fires warns that it was a mistake to relocate the only two heavy firefighters to Castelo Branco.

The move was announced earlier this month for security reasons at the base where they were stationed here in Seia, but according to experts in the subject will greatly reduce the response capacity of means considered fundamental in large fires.

In a document analyzing the combat device planned to respond to the flames in 2019, the Observatory makes a point of remembering that these two heavy aircraft are “unique” in Portugal, “scarce in the market, costly and have to be maximized profitability.”

The Assembly of the Republic approved the draft Law of the PAN party.

The draft law presented by the PAN party prohibits the “discarding” of the cigarette ends onto the public road and provides that the Government promotes actions to raise awareness of this issue, both for citizens and those responsible for commercial establishments. 

Failure to comply with these assumptions will lead to a slight or very serious environmental counter-order and to the imposition of high fines.

During the discussion of the draft law it was pointed out that some municipalities already have initiatives in this area and could contribute to the final version of the law. André Silva said that “it is estimated that in Portugal about 7,000 cigarette ends are thrown to the ground every minute.”

Closing the debate, the deputy acknowledged that the proposal “is not perfect” and “needs corrections” to “improve and make a consensual law.” The document now goes to the Committee on Environment, Spatial Planning, Decentralization, Local Power and Housing.

36 suspects, including 10 women, were tried for their direct involvement, in the explosions of 26 ATM boxes and by laundering the stolen money. The biggest gang ever brought to trial.

The sentence was delivered on Friday 7^th June by the court of Setúbal, two and a half years after they were detained by the National Counterterrorism Unit of the PJ in November 2016. 17 convicts, 11 of whom were incarcerated.

The two ringleaders, who were already in custody, with six others, have since been sentenced to 15 years in prison each.  None had a criminal record until they entered this crime spiral.

The “bando” – as they were classified by the collective of judges of the tribunal of Setúbal, that absolved to them all of the accusation of “criminal association” – had tentacles in several counties of the zone of Greater Lisbon: there was the “Amadora group”, the “Cascais group”, the “group of Setúbal” and the “Group of the Eastern Zone of Lisbon”.

“That’s what we call a ‘carousel gang’, which uses different operations according to the zone where they want to operate,” explains one investigator who was involved in this process.

The judgment, to which the DN had access, has 535 pages and gives a detailed description of each of the assaults, the role of each, the income they have had and the damages they caused (for which they were also ordered to pay heavy damages, of more than 300 thousand euros).

At least 15 state-of-the-art cars, including BMW’s, Mercedes, Audis, and more than a dozen high-powered motorcycles were seized by the authorities in the possession of the main operating companies when the searches were made

The crime may have compensated over time – and was long, about 22 months – in which they managed to keep out of reach of the authorities.

The first ATM that exploded (at least, of which there is registration and evidence) was on September 30, 2014, in Queluz; the last one was on July 21, 2016, in Algés.

This “know-how” was nothing more, nothing less, than a course in Automotive Mechatronics that was given to Autoeuropa Training Academy . That is why, according to the judges, the preferred target of the gang was the “vehicle theft of the VAG Group, responsible for the production, marketing and assistance, mainly of the Audi brand; , Bora, Golf and Passat, Volkswagen brand “because” Tuga “knew a lot about” the functioning of its electronic and mechanical components. ”

From its “social report” the court withdrew “very positive elements in relation to its family structure with personal concerns at this level”. However, it is pointed out, it can not “be indifferent to the massive number of crimes committed over an excessive period of time as well as the presence of this defendant in concrete in almost all operations carried out.”

This is the finding of the Institute for Economics and Peace. (IEP) based on 163 countries.

Although shown as a gain of two places compared to 2018, the actual 2018 report shows us in 4^th place. In 2017 Portugal was also in 3^rd place having improved consistently over the last 10 years.

Spain and France are ranked in 32nd and 60th place respectively, Portugal’s promotion this year to third place in the Global Peace Index has exponentially raised the bar on this country’s profile.

In respect of European countries Portugal is ranked second just behind Iceland in top place.

The report is compiled annually covering 27 indicators ranging from Violent crime, homicide to internal conflicts.

In the domain of “Safety and Security” Portugal was in 9^th place this year up four places compared to 2018. By comparison in this domain the UK and Spain were ranked 29^th and 33^rd places respectively. Afghanistan was in last place.

The Index’s ‘key findings’ report that “the average level of global peacefulness improved very slightly, for the first time in five years.

“Europe remains the most peaceful region in the world, and it recorded a very slight improvement in peacefulness after several years of deterioration.

The Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality, Rosa Monteiro, said that training aimed at security forces on crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex people (LGBTI) aims to enable those professionals to provide” appropriate intervention with those who are victims’.

“That the professionals of the security forces understand this specificity and what can be done to help avoid victimisation”, added the Secretary of State, in statements to the Lusa news agency, in the presentation of the manual “Policing of Hate Crimes against LGBTI people: Forming a Professional Police Response, in Lisbon.

The group will have access to a manual produced by the Council of Europe, translated into Portuguese, with guidelines and a comprehensive approach for daily use, dealing with issues ranging from insults to physical violence.

Rosa Monteiro also mentioned the intersectional specificities of an immigrant transsexual woman or a homosexual gypsy man, for whom the absence of a support network makes it urgent to perceive the complexity that these persons face, not just another victim of an aggression.

“There is a lot of work to do to give more visibility to this problem that people feel in their concrete lives,” said the Secretary of State, adding that this is an issue that exists both on the streets and in social networks.

Rosa Monteiro, highlighted the increasingly trend in cyberbullying, stressing that the main objective is to denounce situations of violence against LGBTI people, “and today we will have a training session, in addition to the presentation of the manual, with the collaboration of the Judiciary Police (PJ) so that these agents multiply their use by the various security forces’.

The first training course took place between May 28 and 29 in Lisbon, adding 30 professionals from the criminal police, from the Public Security Police (PSP), the National Republican Guard (PNG) or PJ, to the Public Ministry.

The Agency for Integrated Management of Rural Fire (AGIF) considers that Portugal remains “very vulnerable to the risk of fire”, and there is “a long way to go” to change the behaviour of the populations and the planning.

“The country remains very vulnerable to the risk of fire because there is still a long way to go to change population behaviours (ignitions), spatial planning (exposure) and active management of forest and agricultural (fuel load) spaces. We must persevere in these areas over the next decade, “says AGIF in a response sent to Lusa.

On a day when the means of rural firefighting are strengthened, AGIF stresses that the reinforcement of operational resources “will always be insufficient in the days of extreme weather to reduce burned area, although more effective to save lives and goods” in the short term.

“Weather variability and climate change add uncertainty in an adverse context,” says the AGIF, which is in operation for the first time this year during the fire season.

Asked if the changes introduced in the fight against fire will be visible this year, the agency stresses that the change of context and the system is “not instantaneous”, producing the political measures, incentives and investments in the long term, between five to 10 years.

Of the use of fire in rural areas, 40% originated from extensive burning of vegetation, pastures and stubble elimination and 19% in burnings to eliminate leftovers from exploitation.

“We cannot forget that 85% of fires start within 500 meters of a settlement, it is human activity that causes accidents and 70% of the incidents result from poorly made fires, burnings and burns. “states AGIF.

AGIF participates in the Special Rural Fire Fighting Device (DECIR) this year, supporting in several areas of knowledge, namely in the assessment of danger, analysis of pyro-meteorology and fire behavior and risk management.

According to AGIF, this year’s 35 elements of this agency that constitute teams of integrated management of rural fires, made available to the command posts, at the request of the National Authority of Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC).

The agency also participates permanently in ANEPC’s Decision Support Nucleus for the Analysis of Rural Fires, supporting the strategic and operational decision before the fires and during the development of the occurrences, as well as in the preparation of the periodic strategic analysis.

It has been in operation since January and is chaired by Tiago Oliveira, currently has 11 sub-regional centers, with full coverage in the country.

AGIF, as a strategic coordination of the fire prevention and control system, has since January promoted the horizontal articulation of the main entities, namely the Institute of Nature Conservation and Forestry, ANEPC, Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere and GNR, at the level national, regional and supramunicipal.

The organization states that locations of risk and prevention and pre-suppression measures are identified, namely targeted awareness, patrolling, fuel management scheduling and recommendations for pre-positioning combat resources.