“The Public Security Police (Polícia de Segurança Pública) is the body responsible for issuing, licensing and inspecting the private security companies in Portugal, as well as all the activities carried out by those companies, their security workers and the program they attend to perform their work.

These competencies are pursued by the Department for Private Security, central unit attached to the Portuguese National Police Head office. Their competences are as follows:

  • Register, analyze and follow up all administrative procedures until its final decision (approval or refusal), in what concerns the private security company licenses, security guards licenses and other authorization procedures related with this activity (for instance, private security training companies, private security guards uniforms, etc.)
  • Define rules and other administrative directives pursuing the control and coordination of all private security activity in Portugal.
  • Maintain a data base in which will be included all the different actors of the private security activity, namely the companies themselves, owners, presidents, people in charge and all the private security guards.
  • Inspect all private security companies and all private security workers.
  • Define rules and other working directives aiming to establish a certain kind of performance in what concerns private security work.
  • Register, analyze and assess all administrative offenses’ processes, proposing punishments in case of violations (the fines are enforced by the National Director of the Public Security Police).
  • Maintain a data base of all the entities which were previously fined (either people or companies).
  • Analyze the incident reports sent by private security companies.
  • Register and analyze all statistics data concerning private security activity.
  • Register, analyze and follow up all the administrative procedures until its final decision (approval or refusal) related to electronic alarms control and monitoring Police Centres connected.

Presented bellow is the list of the Portuguese legislation concerning the private security activity which copies are enclosed:

- Decreto-lei nº 35/2004 de 21 de fevereiro, republished by Decreto-lei nº 114/2011 de 30 de novembro (main law)

- Portaria 1084/2009, de 21 de setembro

- Portaria 734/2004, de 28 de junho

- Portaria 1124/2009, de 01 de outubro

- Portaria n.º 1085/2009, de 21 de setembro

- Portaria nº 786/2004, de 9 de julho

- Portaria nº 1334-B/2010 de 31 de dezembro

- Portaria n.º 1142/2009, de 02 de outubro

- Portaria nº 181/2010 de 26 de março

- Decreto-Lei n.º 309/98, de 14 de outubro

- Portaria n.º 1522-B/2002, de 20 de dezembro

- Portaria n.º 1522-C/2002, de 20 de dezembro

- Decreto-Lei n.º 101/2008, de 16 de junho

- Portaria n.º 972/98, de 16 de novembro

- Portaria 247/2008, de 27 de março

- Portaria 840/2009, de 03 de agosto

- Portaria n.º 1325/2001, de 4 de dezembro

- Portaria n.º 64/2001, de 31 de janeiro

- Decreto-lei nº 297/99 de 4 de agosto

- Portaria nº 135/99 de 26 de fevereiro

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