Portugal’s Police Reinforcements: How the New Blueprint Affects Foreign Residents

Portugal’s new government is racing to reinforce the thin blue line—and it is doing so with more recruits, bigger paychecks, and tougher laws. Foreign residents accustomed to the country’s famously low crime rates will welcome the push, yet the plan also raises questions: Will thousands of new officers actually materialize? Can higher risk allowances soothe long-simmering labor unrest? And, crucially for newcomers, will the initiatives keep Portugal among the world’s safest destinations?

A Political Bet on Bigger Numbers

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has staked early political capital on beefing up the Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP). At a recent oath-taking ceremony in Torres Novas, he told 439 rookie officers that a “strong, active and well-prepared” force is essential to freedom. Beyond the rhetoric, the government has authorised a 1 500-person intake split between the PSP and the GNR by year-end, with 800 of those slots reserved for urban policing. New admission notices for both agents and officers are already in the Diário da República, and Interior Ministry officials insist a second round of 2 600 hires is pencilled in for 2026.Yet the mathematics is tricky. Since 2019, no PSP academy class has filled every seat, and demographic churn—retirements outpace new entries—means the headcount must rise faster just to stand still. Analysts at the University of Porto warn that simply opening courses without modern training facilities or competitive conditions risks repeating past shortfalls.

From Pay Slip to Patrol Car: Sweeteners on the Table

Montenegro’s cabinet is also trying to make the uniform more attractive. Under a 2024 accord worth €250.6 M, the fixed risk allowance jumps from €100 to €400 in three stages, hitting €350 next January and the full amount in 2026. Parallel talks on career grading and evaluation rules resume this autumn, while a separate €607 M infrastructure plan taps EU recovery funds to refurbish ageing precincts and buy updated vehicles, body-cams and drones.Not everyone is clapping. Two of the largest police unions, ASPP/PSP and SPP/PSP, have already threatened fresh street protests, calling the raise “the biggest ever—but still not enough” compared with the Polícia Judiciária’s pay scale. The government counters that the package outstrips any offered since Portugal returned to democracy in 1974 and argues that immigration-era Lisbon needs boots on the ground more than boardroom perfection.

Zero Tolerance for Assaults on Officers

Legislators in São Bento have moved almost in lockstep with the executive. April saw the entry into force of Law 26/2025, which bumps the penalty for a simple assault on an officer from a maximum of 3 years to 4 years in prison and redesignates such attacks as public crimes, meaning the state can prosecute without a victim’s complaint. Throwing projectiles at police cars now carries up to 2 years and 240 days behind bars.The tougher stance is a reply to worrying data: almost 1 300 PSP and GNR officers were assaulted during service in the first eight months of 2024. While overall crime dipped by 4.6% last year, violent and serious offences crept up 2.6%, according to the latest Internal Security Report. Union leaders welcome the harsher code but insist it must be matched by faster court proceedings—a chronic Portuguese weakness foreigners often discover the hard way when pursuing civil claims.

What This Means on Your Street

For expats in Porto’s Cedofeita district or the booming suburbs of Setúbal, the immediate effect should be more foot patrols and quicker response times. PSP headquarters has orders to revive the polícia de proximidade model—think community liaison officers who know every café owner—alongside “multiforce teams” that bundle the PSP, GNR, Judicial Police, tax inspectors and even labour authorities. These mixed squads will target drug trafficking, human-smuggling rackets and undeclared rentals—all issues closely tied to foreign populations.The creation of a dedicated Foreigners & Borders unit within the PSP—a proposal shelved under the previous government after the SEF immigration agency was dismantled—has returned to the agenda. Should parliament approve it, biometric checks at airports and the backlog of AIMA residency cases could shift onto police desks, accelerating decisions that many newcomers have been awaiting for months.

Is Portugal Still Exceptionally Safe?

Global indexes continue to place Portugal in the security top tier, rubbing shoulders with Iceland and Denmark. Violent crime remains concentrated in a handful of metropolitan pockets, and firearms are tightly regulated. Nonetheless, a slow uptick in knife-related youth violence and the visibility of organised crime along the Algarve’s coastline have shaken public perception. For now, insurance underwriters still rate Lisbon property premiums well below Madrid or Rome, but they are tracking the recruitment success rate closely because officer-to-population ratios influence actuarial models.Seasoned relocation consultants advise newcomers to watch for municipal initiatives: Lisbon City Hall, for instance, is co-funding CCTV expansion in tourist quarters, while Cascais is trialling AI-powered street-lighting that alerts police to unusual gatherings. Expats concerned about civil liberties should note that Portugal’s constitution places strict limits on surveillance; any new monitoring kit must pass judicial scrutiny.

The Roadblocks Ahead

Recruitment promises aside, the PSP faces a generational cliff: nearly 30 % of officers are over 50. Retirement waves will peak just as urban sprawl and tourism bounce back above 2019 levels. A second hurdle lies in training capacity: the force’s main academy in Torres Novas can host only 900 cadets at a time, and renovation works scheduled for next spring could temporarily cut that in half.Montenegro says he is open to fast-track lateral entry for cyber-crime specialists and language-skilled migrants, a model already used by the UK Metropolitan Police. Union leaders are sceptical but concede that fresh talent—especially in digital forensics—could lift standards.

Should Foreign Residents Do Anything?

No drastic steps are needed, but a few practical moves make sense. Update emergency contacts in your phone to include 112 (national emergency) and the local PSP precinct number. If you employ domestic staff, keep contracts and ID copies handy; the new multiforce visits may check employment compliance alongside crime prevention. Tenants running short-term rentals should ensure they file the SEF check-in reports—still mandatory until the PSP takes over—within 3 days of each guest’s arrival.Above all, stay informed. Montenegro’s security drive will spawn new by-laws, pilot schemes and digital reporting tools over the next 18 months. Following local English-language media or joining municipal alert channels on WhatsApp can mean the difference between a minor paperwork hitch and a major headache.

In other words, Portugal’s reputation for safety is intact—but not on autopilot. The next two years will test whether more cops, better pay and sharper laws translate into the neighbourhood peace and quiet that so many foreigners have come for.