Opinion of Rogério COPETO: HOME JACKING
The homejacking is the assault on homes, with abduction of their owners and recourse to violence, and in the most severe cases can result in the death of their victims.
Rogério COPETO
Lieutenant Colonel of the GNR, Master in Law and Security and Homeland Security Auditor
Head of the Education Division / Command Doctrine and Training
Psychologically homejacking It is the crime that leaves more sequels on its victims, very difficult to overcome, leading not infrequently, the removal, for they do not feel safe in your home.
In all the crimes committed in Portugal, the homejacking It is the exception, because the robberies residence occur mostly during the absence of their owners, to be the burglar's point of view a more advantageous situation, be higher due to the possibility of success.
But even in those situations where the robbery occurs in the absence of the owners, victims can not easily overcome the situation, as they believe that their most private space and where they feel safer, It was violated, going to live in constant jolt.
So, the homejacking It is a traumatic situation for their victims, deserving by all authorities a quick and effective response, no combate a este grave crime.
That's what happened in January 2010, with the implementation of "Safe Home project" da GNR, who was born in response to an increased feeling of insecurity, result of the occurrence of several burglaries using kidnapping and violence, that occurred in the municipality of Loulé, no final de 2009.
Between October and December 2009 there were several situations that might be covered in homejacking and that targeted the foreign resident community of high social status in the Algarve. This community lived in houses scattered throughout the Algarve barrocal, having begun to be alarmed and concerned about the phenomenon of insecurity, which they were main targets.
It was in an area located about 2 km de Loulé, characterized by having rough and populated relief luxurious and scattered houses, inhabited by foreigners, mostly elderly, from several northern countries and central Europe (Denmark, Finland, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, England, etc.), that occurred most of crimes, meant that most of the victims of these crimes, abandon their homes, returning to their countries of origin, with serious damage to the Algarve image, whose main source of income is tourism.
As already mentioned, the residences targeted assaults were situated in isolated locations, difficult location and poor access, whose mostly elderly owners and foreign, not maintained neighborhood relations with each other, making it difficult to share information within the community and also with the GNR, with the aggravating circumstance of some residences present external signs of wealth, and their owners Car owners upscale.
So, to address this insecurity that observed in its action zone, a GNR de Loulé, implemented the "Project Safe Home" directing human and material resources on an exclusive basis.
The measures taken have gone through georeferencing all isolated residences, for a better location in the event, while still allowing direct proximity patrolling, using GPS equipment, proceeding further distribution of leaflets in Portuguese and English with advice on prevention of residential robberies.
For implementation of the project, policing model used by the GNR was the community policing, using the Special Program Sections, checking up, from logo, the target population began to be able to identify each of the military responsible for the project, enabling a better exchange of information, providing military, for this purpose, their direct contacts.
The military responsible for the project were chosen, because of their greater experience in the territorial service, greater ability to empathize with the community and its language skills, in order to meet the needs of the community and implement the "Project Safe Home", managing to still create in the community a neighborhood surveillance culture, beneficial for better protection of all.
With the information collected though, it was also possible to draw up a map of the region, with the location of each of the homes, which is now available for all patrols of the Territorial Office of Loulé.
Through the set of available proximity and contact, it was also possible to provide the criminal investigation of the structure, information useful to the investigation of crimes recorded in that region and who were being investigated.
From the first moment that the Civil Government of Faro constituted as project partner, providing the GPS devices and the Municipal Council of Loulé provided its technical its Division of Social Action, to provide training programs in the area of psychology to the military, as well as providing psychological support and assistance to victims of crimes.
It is one of the objectives the reduction of serious crime that occurred in the region between October and December 2009, it was found that in the first half of 2010 there was no crime, this fact coinciding with the start of "Project Safe Home", in addition to having managed to bring that community GNR, leading to information sharing, essential to project success.
In June 2010 the General Command of the GNR considered the "Project Safe Home" as good practice, have been made available by the GNR device, and in December the "Project Safe Home" was selected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to represent Portugal in the "European Crime Prevention Award", whose theme this year "For a Safe House, a Safer Community, Prevention by, the Policing and Reintegration ".
This initiative of the GNR was born of the need to address the increasing feeling of insecurity, caused by violent robberies resident aliens elderly households in the Municipality of Loulé, which caused many of the residents put their homes up for sale and chose to return to his country of origin.
For a region such as the Algarve, that lives off tourism essentially, imposed the need to do something, would enable return as soon as possible the previously existing security climate, which was achieved without any doubt, there passed now 5 years a high sense of security from foreign communities residing in our Algarve, making this tourist destination, one of world's best.
