A source from the Public Security Police told Lusa that the training course for 500 new officers will end in July, and at that time all PSP district commands will be reinforced, with some of the new officers being placed in the airport security and border control divisions of the airports of Lisbon, Porto, Madeira and Azores.

In Faro, the security force said in a response sent to Lusa that the national leadership of the PSP decided to “quickly bring forward the reinforcement already planned for the summer” with the allocation of 14 to 20 more police officers from other commands in the country.

This early reinforcement at Faro airport aims to provide “an immediate response to operational needs” and “allow greater response capacity and relief from the current pressure”.

Last week, new border control systems were installed at Portuguese airports, which is causing thousands of passengers from countries outside the Schengen Area to wait several hours for immigration control.

On Tuesday, the Police Professionals’ Trade Union Association (ASPP/PSP) warned of the exhaustion of professionals assigned to the Immigration and Borders Unit due to various situations that are being experienced at airports, and drew attention to the fact that with summer approaching, efforts are needed to “overcome obstacles and mitigate harm to citizens, but mainly to PSP professionals”.

Unbearable

The trade union highlights the operational constraints that result in daily major delays and huge queues, a situation that the union considers “unbearable for the normal functioning of that service”.

In its response to Lusa, the PSP national management said that the implementation of the new European border control system “has numerous challenges” and “requires new technologies, training and more human resources”, admitting that “all police officers working at the air border will be the first to experience these changes”.

“This effort that is being required in terms of workload during this transition phase will only be mitigated by investing in training border police officers, improving technologies and working conditions. This is the commitment during this transition phase. But at the same time, we are investing in training, in the qualification of more resources and more technological capabilities for a more efficient and effective border”, the police force states.

The PSP highlights that the national management “clearly recognises and values ​​the effort and dedication of the police officers who, on the ground, have been fulfilling their mission with a high sense of responsibility, often going beyond what is required of them, demonstrating a strong sense of mission and an unwavering commitment to public service”.

“Finding solutions”

The PSP also states that it has been closely monitoring the situation at airports and has been, “in coordination with the management of the ASPP and other representative structures”, “finding solutions to mitigate the constraints identified and improve the working conditions of professionals”.

Last week, the Internal Security System (SSI) announced that the implementation of the new ‘VIS4EES’, ‘Passe +’ and ‘Portal Fronteiras’ systems at air and sea borders at the European level had been successfully completed.

The SSI also mentioned that there had been “no significant impact on waiting times compared to normal”.

After the statement from the largest PSP union alerting to the situation at airports, Lusa contacted the SSI, but received no response.