Introduction

Safe Communities Portugal (SCP) is an operating name of Associação SCP Safe Communities Portugal,  the country’s only registered national non-profit association providing a “one stop shop” of crime prevention and public information concerning security and safety.

As a public service organisation our services and information are available free of charge to all members of the community. No membership is necessary to receive this.

The aim of SCP is by working together to promote safer communities, enhance security awareness and reduce the risk of becoming a victim of crime. It does this through a number of specific objectives covering police/public engagement; communication and awareness; as well as public support in the fight against crime and promoting civil protection awareness.

SCP promotes community policing by engaging the police and the community, as well as stimulating citizens own responsibilities in cooperating with the police, in order to reduce overall crime and the fear of crime. This helps keeps neighbourhoods safe and improves the quality of life for everyone.

For residents living in, or persons visiting certain regions in Portugal, SCP has created specific “safe communities”, detailing the services it provides in those areas. To date these are:  Safe Communities Algarve ,  Safe Communities Lisbon and Safe Communities Madeira.

SCP works closely with the Ministry of Internal Administration, GNR,  PSP,  Judicial Police,  SEF, ANEPC, ASAE, ICNF, and Turismo de Portugal, the municipalities, various Embassies and many other authorities in helping to keep Portugal a safe place to live and visit.

Our Services

SCP provides a diverse range of free services to the public which can be found under our How we help you page. These include emergency contacts; crime statistics, keeping kids safe and reporting crime.

With over 100 downloads the Crime Prevention Advice page has the most comprehensive range of crime prevention material available in Portugal. These range from protecting your home to reducing the risk of pet theft.

Portugal was rated as the  3rd Most Peaceful country in the world (according to the Global Peace Index 2019) and in order to keep it so please visit our Safe Tourism page which has crime prevention advice in  10 different languages.

If you are planning to move to Portugal, please see our Safety and Security check list to help find and decide your dream home. We welcome you into our community.

To find out more about policing in Portugal we have an overview of the law enforcement agencies in Portugal, including the GNR if you live in the rural areas or a small town, or visit the PSP police page if you live in the larger towns. Our site also contains pages outlining the work of the Judicial Police and the border and immigration service SEF. There is also a page showing the work and responsibilities of ASAE, in the area of food hygiene and related services.

We are grateful to the law enforcement agencies here if Portugal for their support of Safe Communities Portugal and in particular for their input into the design and providing information for many of the pages on this website, including the use of their logos.

To keep up to date with various crime arrests, crime prevention seminars, displays and other exhibitions organized by SCP in conjunction with the various government agencies please visit our Latest News/Events page.

As we live in a time with rapidly developing technology keeping our children safe on-line and from the dangers that they face in a modern society is important. Please visit our Keeping Kids Safe page for advice on this subject.

SCP’s responsibility in the area of public safety includes creating awareness of issues such as rural fires which are a major risk in Portugal, as well as temperature extremes and flooding. Visit our Civil Protection page on ways you can help keep our property safe. To find out the latest weather warnings in place click on the “Current ANEPC Weather warnings to the Population” tab on the right of this page.

Various businesses in Portugal have contributed by setting high standards in their approach to crime prevention and their details can be found in the Safe Services Guide page.

Our Newsletter

In order to receive the latest updates and news about crime prevention, public safety and cybercrime, please sign up for free newsletter on this page. This is published fortnightly or more frequently if there are matters that need to be circulated urgently. Crime prevention involves us all. Back copies can be accessed here.

About Us

Safe Communities Portugal is run by volunteers. We have considerable expertise in the areas of public security and safety, both at national and international level. Find out more about the history of SCP ,  our team, our supporters and protocols with various authorities.

If you have any suggestions for crime prevention and public safety topics that you feel would be of interest to the community, or need advice or help concerning policing and crime prevention issues please contact us.