The PSP arrested 38 pickpockets and recorded 1,617 incidents related to this type of crime in the first three months of the year, said the police this Sunday, April 5, at a time when they increased their presence on the streets to prevent these thefts.
In a statement, the Public Security Police states that it has reinforced its police presence in urban centers with the greatest influx of people, especially tourist and commercial areas and close to public transport interfaces, to prevent theft by pickpockets at Easter time.
This police reinforcement is part of “Operation Easter” that the PSP carries out until Monday, bearing in mind that “it is expected that networks linked” to theft by pickpockets will take advantage of this time of year to carry out this type of crime.
Theft by pickpockets is among the eight crimes that increased the most last year, according to the 2025 Annual Internal Security Report (RASI), which also shows that Lisbon is the city with the most crimes of this type.
In the statement, the PSP indicates that, in the first quarter of 2026, 38 pickpockets were arrested, identified 78 suspects of theft by pickpockets and recorded 1,617 incidents related to this criminal practice.
Last year, the police arrested 134 pickpockets, identified 312 suspects of this practice and recorded 6,153 incidents of pickpocket theft, which is equivalent to an average of 17 crimes per day.
The PSP says that in 2018 it created a team made up of police officers belonging to the criminal investigation structure specializing in this crime, with the investment allowing it to “considerably increase, over the last few years, the number of interceptions in the act of committing this crime, through greater training of police officers and a growing knowledge about certain itinerant criminal groups that are dedicated” to pickpocketing in Portugal.
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