Rise in crime in Lisbon linked to increased PSP police presence
A 2.9% increase in overall crime in Cometlis during the first eight months of the year is primarily attributable to police proactivity, according to commander Luís Elias.
PSP explains rise in crime in Lisbon with reinforced police activity
The increase in crimes such as drug trafficking, driving under the influence of alcohol, illegal driving, disobedience and pickpocketing in Greater Lisbon is explained by the PSP itself through reinforced police presence on the streets. According to Correio da Manhã, the commander of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command (Cometlis), superintendent-chief Luís Elias, gave this explanation in an interview to the Lusa news agency.
Luís Elias stated that police proactivity and the growth in the number of arrests contributed to the 2.9% increase in overall crime in the Cometlis area during the first eight months of the year, compared with the same period in 2025. The official emphasised that police work has "a leverage factor also in overall crime", with crimes "that only appear in statistics as a result of police activity".
"I am referring, in particular, to drug trafficking crimes, resistance and coercion of an official, illegal driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, disobedience — these are a set of crimes that increased over these eight months and that influenced the overall statistic and in terms of general crime," said Luís Elias.
The Cometlis commander also highlighted that, by the end of August, the PSP had recorded 500 more arrests compared with the same period in 2025.
Violent crime down; street robberies are priority
With regard to violent and serious crime, figures fell by 0.4% in the Cometlis area during the first eight months of the year. Luís Elias linked this decrease to a reduction in street robberies, classified as "a type of crime that has a significant impact on the population's sense of safety or insecurity".
The commander clarified that the PSP has recorded "significant decreases in street thefts and street robberies", categories which he himself defined as an institutional priority. "These are the ones with the greatest statistical expression and are those that I have defined, as commander of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command, as a priority with regard to the criminal institution and also to detection in flagrante delicto," he stressed.
In the opposite direction, Luís Elias noted that, within the scope of violent and serious crime, extortions and kidnappings recorded an increase.
International pickpockets exploit tourism growth
Pickpocketing, which does not fall into the category of violent and serious crime, merits special attention from the PSP. Luís Elias explained how this phenomenon has transformed in recent years: "Pickpocketing was traditionally associated with senior Portuguese-origin pickpockets who have always engaged in this type of activity as a way of life. But in recent years pickpocketing is clearly associated with transnational crime, itinerant criminality, with international groups that move to Portugal solely for this purpose."
The PSP has identified several groups that remain in Portugal for days or weeks before returning to other countries. These groups circulate through several European cities — in Spain, France and Italy — and their members have criminal records in other countries.
The increase in this type of crime in the capital is also linked to tourism growth. "Tourism has many positive factors, notably as a lever for the development of our economy, but it also has this factor of attracting certain types of criminal phenomena that carry out their activity in cities and in places of large concentrations of people, namely tourists," said the Cometlis commander.
"Rolex gang" and the risk of national imitators
Another concern for the police official is robberies organised by international groups, notably the theft of luxury watches. "We have another dimension, which has been much discussed now, for example, the rolex robberies, which is clearly related to transnational criminality," said Luís Elias.
The commander noted that the case of the so-called "rolex gang" — a criminal group from South America responsible for several violent robberies on the streets of the capital targeting drivers of high-end vehicles and those displaying other external signs of wealth — is under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Police. Nevertheless, Luís Elias expressed concern about the possible emergence of nationally-based groups attempting to imitate this modus operandi, "with disastrous results".
Cometlis has jurisdiction in nine municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area: Amadora, Cascais, Lisbon, Loures, Odivelas, Oeiras, Sintra, Vila Franca de Xira and Torres Vedras.
Source: Correio da Manhã