Lisbon, Aug. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese public prosecutor's office is investigating the actions of the Lisbon municipal police, but the mayor, Carlos Moedas (PSD), says that this police force is governed by “the principles of legality, appropriateness and proportionality”.
In response to the Lusa news agency, Portugal's attorney general's office confirmed the existence of an inquiry into the actions of the Lisbon municipal police, adding that "it was launched following newspaper reports" and is being conducted by the Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DIAP) in Lisbon.
Lusa questioned the attorney general's office about the suspected crimes underlying the public prosecutor's investigation, whether the inquiry concerns individual officers or the Lisbon municipal police service itself, and whether the mayor will be questioned in this context, but has not received a response to these questions.
The news about the opening of an inquiry into the actions of the Lisbon municipal police was reported on Friday by the newspaper Diário de Notícias (DN), which states that the public prosecutor's office sees evidence of crime, in particular involving members of this police force who, in reports by the television channel Now, appear in plain clothes arresting suspects of crimes such as illegal street vending.
According to DN, the Public Security Police (PSP) "saw no problems" in the actions of the Lisbon municipal police, but the Regulatory Authority for the Media (ERC) received 11 complaints against reports involving the municipal police and is investigating the conduct of reporters from the Now channel.
Regarding the ongoing investigation by the public prosecutor's office, in a statement sent to Lusa, the mayor of Lisbon said: “I am and will always be on the side of the municipal police and all law enforcement agencies.”
The Social Democrat Carlos Moedas also argued that the Lisbon municipal police “act in accordance with the principles of legality, appropriateness and proportionality” and stressed that he will “always” continue to encourage any police force to enforce the law and impose order in the name of protecting all citizens.
The news of the opening of a criminal inquiry comes in the same week that the opinion of the Consultative Council of the Attorney General's Office on the powers and duties of municipal police forces was released, which contradicts the position of the mayor of Lisbon to order the municipal police to start arresting suspects of crimes in the city.
According to the opinion, “constitutional law precludes the attribution of the status, powers and legal competences of a ‘criminal police body’ to municipal police forces, as it assigns them exclusively administrative and internal security functions”, despite the fact that municipal police forces are composed exclusively of personnel with PSP police functions.
“Municipal police officers [may only] arrest suspects in the case of public or semi-public crimes punishable by imprisonment, in flagrante delicto, and are responsible for drawing up the respective report and arrest warrant and immediately handing over the detainee to the judicial authority or the criminal police body,” the opinion reads.
In response, the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD), argued for "a small change" in the law to allow the municipal police to arrest suspects caught in flagrante delicto and take them to a PSP police station.
Opposition councillors in the municipal council, namely PS, PCP, Livre, BE and Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), criticised the mayor's position on strengthening the powers of the municipal police and argued that the attorney general's opinion “cannot be ignored”
The PS, the main opposition party, also said that the opening of an inquiry by the Inspectorate-General of Internal Administration (IGAI) into the actions of the Lisbon municipal police is a cause for concern, “above all because of the stain on the city council’s reputation”.
SSM/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
