The Portuguese Police System: Conflicts and Tension

Abstract

The article aims to discuss conflicts and tensions in the Portuguese police system, from its historical process, from Monarchy to the Republic, from the New State to the present day. A structure and understandings they have about the police system are reflected in the Portuguese bibliography and in the perceptions of police officers who live with these pensions in their activities. In this investigation, information was collected from the GNR through ethnography and the application of questionnaires to guards, cables and officers. The questionnaire was prepared in view of the questions and objectives of this article and was applied to the Detachment of Sintra in its sub-stations: Sintra, Alcabideche and Colares. The structure of the Portuguese police system has institutional advances in the European context and they are a substantial part of the success in controlling crime and the system's flexibility to adapt to the context of political, cultural and technological changes. On the other hand, the corporate and individual ethos conditioned by the identity tension of each police force and the pressure from the political field keeps disputes between the monitored organizations.