Cascais and GNR advance with video surveillance system in Alcabideche

A Câmara de Cascais signed today with the Republican National Guard (GNR) a protocol for the management of the surveillance system in the parish of Alcabideche, with a view to the installation of 37 chambers, of the 444 that it plans to install in the county.

Following a proposal unanimously approved by the municipal executive, the mayor, Nuno Piteira Lopes (PSD), and the commander of the Lisbon Territorial Command of GNR, João Clara da Fonseca, signed the document in the Paços do Concelho.

According to the minute of the protocol, to which Lusa had access, the video surveillance system aims to “protect the safety of persons, animals and goods, in public places or public access, and to prevent the practice of facts qualified by law as crimes, in places where there is reasonable risk of their occurrence”.

The system, owned by the municipality, also aims to support the “operational response to ongoing security incidents” and the “control of traffic and safety of persons, animals and goods in road traffic”.

The document, signed with the presence of the Secretary of State of the Internal Administration, Telmo Correia, stresses that the municipality of Cascais, in the district of Lisbon, “want for the high socioeconomic dynamics, as well as for its tourist importance, receives and welcomes a large number of people throughout the year, with special incidence” between April and October.

This significant turnaround, it is added, imposes the need for policies and measures that “ensure objectively public security and tranquility, as well as contribute positively to the sense of security of the local community and of all those who use and enjoy public spaces”.

The parish of Alcabideche, due to its existing geographical location and relevant infrastructure, has “a high flow and circulation of people and vehicles”, with emphasis on the hospital of Cascais, the CascaiShopping shopping centre and the Estoril Autodrome, as well as access to the A5 and A16 motorways.

In addition, it serves as an “access point to the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park and to places of high tourist interest, such as Cabo da Roca”, in the neighboring municipality of Sintra, “enhancing the concentration, permanence and movement of people”, which “have risks for security, tranquility and public order”.

Under the protocol, the municipality assumes “all the costs of design or study, installation, necessary technical training and maintenance of the system”, and installs “the legally required signage in the public places covered” and the “monitoring center” in the “situation room of the GNR Territorial Command in Lisbon, with the possibility of viewing in the Territorial Sub-dealing of Alcabideche”.

The security force, for its part, is obliged to “make the request for installation authorisation” and its renewal, to “guarantee the operationality of the video surveillance system through the use of its human and logistical resources”, and its “correct use”, with “full safeguarding of citizens’ rights, freedoms and guarantees”.

The municipality, in April 2025, advanced that the Court of Auditors granted the prior visa for the installation of 444 video surveillance cameras, “in a municipal investment of EUR 12.5 million”.

“ In all there are 444 cameras for places carefully chosen by the Public Security Police and the Republican National Guard. Account was taken of factors such as history of occurrences, criminal indexes, concentration of crowds, circuits of passage, among others”, he explained.

The vision of the images, then advanced the chamber, will take place in a building in Tires, near the Municipal Aerodrome of Cascais, and also in the Metropolitan Command of Lisbon (PSP) or the Territorial Command of Lisbon (GNR).

In addition to the 37 chambers in the parish of Alcabideche, 135 will be mounted in Cascais, 47 in Estoril, 47 in Carcavelos, 51 in the Wall and 51 in São Domingos de Rana, and some poles will have two or three image capture equipment.