Representatives from consuls and police forces from the UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Norway, Netherlands, Romania and Luxembourg have met the Algarve's regional police commad team in Faro to "prepare for a safe summer."
"The meeting aimed to strengthen relations between the Algarve's PSP police force and representatives of many of the countries from which visitors come to the Algarve, in order better to respond to the needs they may have during their stay in our country," said the PSP chief.
An expected seven million passengers will use Faro airport this year and the "Algarve - Destination Safe" has been running since launch in 2013 in partnership with the regional tourist board and the University of the Algarve.
The programme concentrates on three areas: knowledge, response and follow-up, each triggering a set of specific actions.
There has been work going on behind the scenes as well as outreach initiatives, with criminal analysis, the study of victims, a rolling ‘sense of security’ study, the creation of tourist help points, the development of a smartphone app, the creation of local teams and victim support, and police teams made up of foreign officers joining local operations.
