Lisbon. Residents protest over locations chosen for video surveillance cameras in Cais do Sodré

Residents of the Cais do Sodré area in Lisbon are contesting the choice of locations for the installation of 30 video surveillance cameras and complain that the most dangerous streets have been left out .

“We are outraged and shocked. They immediately chose places where no one lives and where no one passes by ,” Isabel Sá da Bandeira, from the Aqui Mora Gente association, told Lusa on Tuesday.

The association that intends to represent the residents of the city of Lisbon is contesting the locations chosen by the entities to install the 30 video surveillance cameras in the Cais do Sodré area, which have been expected for a decade.

According to this association, the cameras were installed “in streets where no one passes by”, stating that nine of them “are filming the void” .

“The mountain really gave birth to a mouse. The cameras were installed in areas where they were not needed and where there are only homeless people,” he lamented.

In the association's understanding, the cameras should be placed in places such as São Paulo Street, São Paulo Square, Flores Street, Stephens Square, Alecrim Street, Remolares Street and Remolares Street.

“ Places where there is crime every day, scenes of rape, fighting and drug dealing . However, the [Lisbon] City Council is going to install cameras in Cais de Sodré where there is no one. We can’t understand it,” he pointed out.

Contacted by Lusa, a source from Lisbon City Council, chaired by Carlos Moedas (PSD), stressed that the responsibility for choosing the locations where video surveillance cameras are installed lies with the PSP and the Ministry of Internal Affairs , the only entities responsible for “assessing security risks and making adjustments”.

“We can reveal that President Carlos Moedas has already formally requested the Ministry of Internal Administration to assess the change in priorities to the plan defined in 2018 and to implement a video protection system in Arroios, São Domingos de Benfica, Martim Moniz, Avenida da Liberdade and other streets in Cais do Sodré (Rua dos Remolares, Travessa dos Remolares and Praça de São Paulo)”, he added.

Lusa asked the Ministry of Administration about this request, but has not received a response so far.

When questioned by Lusa on Monday — the day on which, according to an official note, the mayor was due to make a visit to the site, which has since been cancelled, regarding the “completion of the implementation of the video protection system” — Lisbon City Council only indicated that “the cameras are already in place”, without specifying further details or whether the system is already in operation.

Two weeks ago, Lisbon City Council revealed that it had sent the Minister of Internal Affairs a request for the implementation, “urgently”, of a video surveillance system in the parish of Arroios.

Lisbon City Council asks the Government for video surveillance in the parish of Arroios

The request made by Carlos Moedas, to which the Lusa agency had access, had already been sent to the Lisbon City Council by the president of the Arroios Parish Council.

Lisbon currently has 64 video surveillance cameras in the city — 27 in Bairro Alto since 2014, seven in the Miradouro de Santa Catarina area and 30 in Cais do Sodré — according to municipal data.

The first phase of the plan to expand the video protection system in Lisbon is currently underway, with a total of 99 video surveillance cameras expected in three locations, namely Campo das Cebolas (32), Restauradores (17) and Ribeira das Naus (20), which should be in operation by the end of August 2025.

Video surveillance installed in Cais do Sodré and Campo das Cebolas in January

The second phase of this plan includes 117 video surveillance cameras “in 11 different locations”, according to the municipality.