Portugal's police operation last December saw 366 motorists done for drunk driving, 113 for driving without a license, 90 arrested for having current warrants out for them, 47 for drug possession, 43 for theft and robbery, 25 for disobedience when stopped, 24 for possession of illegal weapons and 19 for assaulting and/or injuring officers.
The PSP were busy during the 20 days of operation 'Safe Party 2013' which took place between December 13th and January 1st and saw 53,000 vehicles stopped for inspection. The police issued fines to 3,558 drivers, including 289 for using a mobile phone while driving, 85 for driving without a seatbelt and 42 for not giving way to pedestrians at a crossing.
The Public Security Police also reported that 2,380 drivers were fined for speeding, 1,094 of them going fast enough to warrant a serious contravention.
During the operation the PSP seized 20 firearms and 12 knives, plus more than 11,356 portions of various illegal drugs.
On the plus side the police noted that in the areas it was patrolling there was a decrease of 19.5% in general crime and 5.1% drop in violent crime when compared to the same period last year.
Police said that thefts from cars fell 22% and burglaries decreased 6.2%. The number of pickpockets caught during the period was the same as in 2012.
As for road accidents there were four fatalities (two fewer than in 2012) and 2,564 accidents where there were injuries. This published figure is at odds with the figure for 20-26th December when 11 people died in a series of accidents suggesting that the PSP are taking their accident statistics only from the roads which were being patrolled.
The PSP claimed that that the main objectives of their Safe Holidays 2013 operation, namely, police visibility, reduction of road accidents and crimes, were achieved.
